Jenny Lin

Jenny Lin is one of those adventurous pianists unafraid to tackle contemporary repertory or to explore the works of lesser-known composers of generations past. Ironically, her repertory is inclusive of many of the standards, including concertos by <a href="spotify:artist:656RXuyw7CE0dtjdPgjJV6">Haydn</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4NJhFmfw43RLBLjQvxDuRS">Mozart</a>, Beethoven, and others, but the list of modern and contemporary composers in her repertory is staggering: <a href="spotify:artist:0Uj2XBKJsuZZsf5xSEPfmS">Bolcom</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2prZJWfQMnIgwUKxKcBxH7">Boulez</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1Z3fF5lZdCM0ZHugkGoH8s">Cage</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1zb5zmIuX2lTbzcn7YeQlg">Ligeti</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2P6ygesd9xg5DPOBnda2jg">Pärt</a>, to name a few. What is more surprising is the number of works she has performed, if not championed, by virtual unknowns. How many pianists would dare to regularly give concerts featuring works by the likes of Virko Baley, <a href="spotify:artist:6FiLRj0EeeMGtgQAWFWO0A">Unsuk Chin</a>, Tsu-Ling Sarana Chou, and Jacqueline Waeber-Diaz? Lin not only concertizes such fare but has recorded several albums of works by such composers.

Lin was born in Taiwan and raised in Austria. She studied music at Vienna's Hochschule für Musik with Noel Flores and later on at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore with Julian Martin. Lin continued studies even after launching her concert career, with her list of teachers including <a href="spotify:artist:1OBaEwgkgZqtb6ePRHm58A">Richard Goode</a>, Dmitri Bashkirov, and <a href="spotify:artist:3IOUX2zimWLnlS0kRyJQJq">Andreas Staier</a>. After her student years, Lin relocated to New York City, where she regularly appears in concert at 92nd Street Y, Miller Theater, and the Museum of Modern Art. She has also performed at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. Lin has frequently appeared at major American and European festivals, including the Spoleto, Chopin, Ars Musica, and Archipel. Since 2014, she has joined <a href="spotify:artist:69lxxQvsfAIoQbB20bEPFC">Philip Glass</a> to perform his Etudes on world tours.

Lin has recorded for the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22H%C3%A4nssler+Classic%22">Hänssler Classic</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22BIS%22">BIS</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Koch+International%22">Koch International</a>, and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Steinway+%26+Sons%22">Steinway & Sons</a>, among others. Her earliest recordings appeared at the beginning of the 21st century with a pair of acclaimed efforts on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22BIS%22">BIS</a>: Chinoiserie, in 2000, containing Sino-inspired works by <a href="spotify:artist:35OhI7DSls022v9Bz9r0VZ">Adams</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2DLKrW0pn180nOIjUWlTjm">Arensky</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7xH3VOMwOjnqGu7NERNUx1">Busoni</a>, and others, and the complete piano works of Ruth Crawford Seeger, issued in 2002. Among her other recordings are a 2008 <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22H%C3%A4nssler+Classic%22">Hänssler Classic</a> CD containing Bloch's Concerto symphonique, Concerto Grosso, and Scherzo fantasque, with conductor Jiri Starek leading the SWR Radio Orchestra Kaiserslautern; InsomniMania from the same year; and a 2011 disc of Mompou works. Lin was one of the first <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Steinway%22">Steinway</a> artists to record files on its Spirio player piano in 2015, using the instrument for a collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:1l10UPSXfbHFvNnDN7kgbA">Uri Caine</a> entitled The Spirio Sessions. In 2020, Lin issued an album of Glass' piano works on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Steinway+%26+Sons%22">Steinway & Sons</a>.

Along with her commercial releases, Lin has been featured across several different mediums, including a 2011 performance on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert, and in a pair of documentaries: Cooking with Jenny and Speaking for Myself. A noted educator, she is on the faculty of the 92nd Street Y and is also an author, having written a children's book titled Melody's Mostly Musical Day, which incorporates music spanning several eras. The book has since been performed as a multimedia concert series for schools and released as an album by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Steinway+%26+Sons%22">Steinway & Sons</a> in 2016.