Program
Richard Lin in Concert
Richard Lin, violin
Chih-Yi Chen, piano
Chaconne in G minor for Solo Violin
Tomaso Antonio Vitali (1663-1745)
Violin Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 75
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
Allegro agitato – Adagio
Allegretto moderato – Allegro molto
Intermission
Violin Sonata
Leoš Janáček (1854-1928)
Con Moto
Ballada
Allegretto
Adagio
Concert Fantasy on Themes from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Op. 19
Igor Frolov (1937-2013)
Richard Lin, violin
Taiwanese-American violinist Richard Lin is the Gold Medalist of the 10th Quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, which took place in September of 2018.
Highlights of Mr. Lin’s 2021-2022 performances include multiple appearances with the National Symphony Orchestra in Taiwan. In the United States, he will appear with the Baton Rouge Symphony and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. Recitals in Taiwan, Texas, California, and Pennsylvania will culminate in a Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium recital debut in June 2022. Passionate about chamber music, Richard will give concerts in the United States as a member of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program and perform at Music@Menlo.
Richard has collaborated with numerous orchestras and performed at celebrated concert venues throughout the world including the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra under conductor Norichika Iimori at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. Other orchestras with whom he has worked are the NDR Radiophilharmonie; Indianapolis, North Carolina, Shanghai and Singapore symphonies; Poznań, Łódź, Polish Baltic, Nagoya, Taiwan, and Oklahoma City philharmonics; Hong Kong Sinfonietta, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Amadeus Polish Chamber Orchestra, and the Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia among others.
He released his first album on the Fontec label in 2013 featuring works for violin and orchestra by Beethoven, Bartók and Brahms performed with the Sendai Philharmonic and conductor Pascal Verrot. The following year, he released the complete Brahms Sonatas for Piano and Violin with his brother, pianist Robert Lin.
Richard has amassed a startling collection of top prizes at major international competitions including 1st Prize at the Sendai International Violin Competition; 3rd Prize in the Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition in Hannover; and 2nd Prize at the Singapore and Michael Hill International Violin competitions. A dedicated teacher, Richard is on the faculty of the National Taipei University of Education.
Born in Phoenix, Arizona and raised in Taiwan, Richard began his violin studies at the age of four. He gave his public debut at age eleven performing the Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto No. 3 with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra. Richard graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School where he studied with Aaron Rosand and Lewis Kaplan respectively.As part of his Indianapolis prize, Richard has the use of the 1683 “ex-Gingold” Stradivarius and 2017 Sam Zygmuntowicz for four years.
Chih-Yi Chen, piano
Pianist Chih-Yi Chen has been on the faculty of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music since 2003 and has been part of the Chamber and Collaborative Music Department since its inaugural year, 2016-2017. Dr. Chen is also on the faculty of the Indiana University Summer String Academy. Her versatile qualities as a collaborative partner, chamber musician, soloist and teacher have contributed to a distinguished career, nationally and internationally.
Dr. Chen has been performing with International Violin Competition of Indianapolis Laureates since 2003 including 2018 Gold Medalist Richard Lin. She was an official pianist for the 9th and 10th Quadrennial Competitions and was awarded special recognition at the 2018 Competition for “Best Performances” of the Beethoven and Mozart sonatas. Her early work with the talented young violinists of the Indiana University Violin Virtuosi directed by renowned pedagogue Mimi Zweig led to performances in France, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Japan and throughout the United States.
Among the numerous musicians with whom she has collaborated are violinists Noah Bendix-Balgley, Jaime Laredo, Andrés Cárdenes, David Chan, Barnabás Kelemen, Simone Lamsma, Nai-Yuan Hu, Liviu Prunaru, Mihaela Martin, Augustin Hadelich, Clara-Jumi Kang, Soovin Kim, Susie Park, Luke Hsu and Svetlin Roussev, violists Atar Arad, Brian Chen and Masumi Per Rostad, cellists Sharon Robinson, Peter Stumpf and Bion Tsang, clarinetists James Campbell and Howard Klug, bassoonist William Ludwig and flutist Thomas Robertello. She has also performed with the Michelangelo, Pacifica, Rubens and Verona string quartets.
She has served as an adjudicator for competitions including the National Society of Arts and Letters Instrumental Competitions.
Born in Taipei, Dr. Chen received her Bachelor of Music, Master of Music and Doctor of Music degrees from Indiana University where she studied with Lev Vlasenko, and with Luba Edlina-Dubinsky, pianist of the Borodin Trio.