Steven Lin
Steven Lin
Classical Guitar
408-924-4333
steven.lin@sjsu.edu
MUS 201
Biography
Professor Steve Lin has concertized throughout the United States, Italy, Mexico, the Philippines, and Taiwan. He is acclaimed by Classical Guitar Magazine as "a confident player with a powerful sound, quick hands, and a solid musical memory" and praised by American guitar virtuoso Eliot Fisk as a performer who "plays with an innate and uncommon elegance."
Professor Lin was the first prize winner at the 2006 Boston GuitarFest Competition and the 2001 East Carolina University Guitar Competition. He has performed at Mérida Yucatán Guitar Festival, Yale Guitar Extravaganza, L'Accademia Musicale Chigiana, ChitarraImperia Festival, and Stetson Guitar Workshop.
A recording artist for VGo Recordings, Professor Lin has released three albums. The first, Eliot Fisk Series Vol. 1 (VG1013), is a joint effort with guitarist Joseph Williams II and La Bella Strings, and was dubbed "innovative and exciting" by Minor 7th Acoustic Guitar Music Reviews. His second CD, Imagen (VG1015), features the Latin American compositions of Agustín Barrios and Antonio Lauro, which Classical Guitar Magazine called "brilliant" and "virtuosic." His third album, "A Path Less Trod" features the Black Cedar Trio, performing original works for flute, cello, and guitar.
In addition to his work as a concert guitarist, he is regularly engaged in community and educational concerts. Beginning in 2005, he founded Boston Guitar Project, which organized over twenty performances annually, ranging from benefit concerts for disaster relief, music hours for nursing homes and hospitals, and fund raiser concerts for local non-profits throughout the Greater Boston Area. Now living in the San Francisco Bay Area, he continues his work through the South Bay Guitar Society and his own outreach initiative, reaching churches, libraries, and schools. In 2010, he was the recipient of a grant from Yale AlumniVentures to carry out in-class performances at public schools in the Bay Area.
In November 2009, Professor Lin premiered Journey into Desire by Lei Liang; the commission was made possible by support from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and the South Bay Guitar Society. Journey into Desire is based on the Chinese novel Dreams from the Red Chamber, and it was given its Asian premier at the first Philippine International Guitar Festival in Manila in 2010. He has also commissioned works by Mu-Xuan Lin, David McMullin, Nomi Epstein, Joseph Johnson, Matthew McConnell, and Colin Stack.
In 2008, Professor Lin was coached by composer Helmut Lachenmann in preparation for a performance of '...zwei Gefühle...', Musik mit Leonardo with Stephen Drury and the Callithumpian Consort. He has performed with Boston Microtonal Society's NotaRiotous, a chamber ensemble dedicated to promoting microtonal music. He also has appeared at New England Conservatory's Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice (SICPP) and on the New Gallery Concert Series of Boston.
Professor Lin earned his D.M.A. & B.M. from New England Conservatory and his M.M. at Yale School of Music. His primary teachers have included Eliot Fisk, Oscar Ghiglia, Lorenzo Micheli, Wei-Ren Chuang, Ronald Purcell, and Ronald Borczon. During his free time, he is a great home cook and avid badminton player.
