Chien-Kwan Lin
Chien-Kwan Lin (b. 1972, Singapore) 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.”
Recent appearances by Mr. Lin have included 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), Manuel Castillo Conservatory of Seville (Spain), Vienna Conservatory, 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. His recording of Liang’s Xiaoxiang Concerto with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project was also named a Pulitzer Prize Finalist in 2015.
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 most prestigious competitions internationally. He is the founding director of the Eastman Saxophone Project (ESP), as well as the recipient of the 2012-2013 Eisenhart Award for Excellence in Teaching. Mr. Lin is an artist and clinician for Selmer and Vandoren companies, and performs exclusively on these products. He holds degrees from the New England Conservatory (BM, MM) and Eastman (Performer’s Certificate, DMA). His teachers have included Ken Radnofsky and Ramon Ricker.