Chien-Kwan Lin, born in Singapore in 1972, has appeared as soloist and guest artist with the United States Navy Band, the Eastman Wind Ensemble, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Tanglewood Festival Orchestra, the New World Symphony, the Portland (ME) Symphony, as well as the philharmonic and chamber orchestras of Boston, Rochester, Sichuan and Thailand.
Mr Lin’s performances have garnered excellent reviews by critics in New York and Boston. His critically-acclaimed Carnegie Hall recital prompted New York Concert Review to portray him as a performer “who has the passion and restraint and beautiful sense of line to take melody where it wants to go, fully and generously,” while the Boston Globe has lauded him for “displaying chops,” and has described his playing as “polished,” “charismatic,” and “appealing.”
His recent appearances include the World Saxophone Congress, North American Saxophone Alliance, Selmer Showroom (Paris), Steinway Hall (NYC), New England Saxophone Symposium, Texas Tech University International Saxophone Artists Series, U.S. Navy Band International Saxophone Symposium, Saxorama Festival (Canada), Fromm Players of Harvard University, and the Formosa Chamber Music Society of New York. He has presented master classes across the U.S. and internationally, including the Paris Conservatory (CNSMDP), National Taipei University for the Arts, Mahidol University (Thailand), as well as the Shenyang, Sichuan and Central (Beijing) Conservatories in China.
Mr Lin’s recording of Lei Liang’s Memories of Xiaoxiang for Alto Saxophone & Tape (Mode Records) was selected among “Amazon.com: Best 20th /21st Century Classical of 2009,” and his recording of David Liptak’s Serenade for Alto Saxophone & String Orchestra, which John Pitcher of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle called “brilliantly recorded,” is available on Bridge Records.
Since winning top prizes in Singapore’s National Music Competition for 4 consecutive times (violin category), he has enjoyed a multi-faceted career. He also won a Best Conductor Award at Singapore’s National Band Leaders Festival, and worked as a jazz violinist for several years. In addition, he has appeared as orchestral violinist with the New Hampshire Symphony, the Indian Hill Symphony, and the Hannover (NH) Chamber Orchestra.
Mr Lin is currently Associate Professor of Saxophone at the Eastman School of Music, where members of his studio have been frequent prizewinners at some of the nation’s most prestigious competitions. He is the founder and director of the Eastman Saxophone Project (ESP), as well as the recipient of the 2012-2013 Eisenhart Award for Excellence in Teaching. He is also an artist and clinician for Selmer and Vandoren companies, and performs exclusively on these products. He also holds degrees from the New England Conservatory (BM, MM) and Eastman (Performer’s Certificate, DMA) and his teachers include Ken Radnofsky and Ramon Ricker.