Helen Lin "The Impossible Piano"
“The Lincoln Center has Wynton Marsalis. The Philly Pops has Peter Nero. And we have Helen Lin.”;
“Electrifying, soothing, energetic, and uplifting, she envelopes her audience with an intensity that includes emotions and exudes joy.”
—The Doylestown Patriot
“Helen Lin is one of the greatest pianists of her generation…..hear classical piano like you never heard it before”---Dover News
Voted one of the top eight musicians in the world by the Web Concert Hall International Competition in 2003, Helen Lin’s professional engagements have ranged from performing as a full-scholarship recipient at the Tanglewood Music Festival (where she was selected to join the final concert with the outstanding world musicians to perform Schumann’s A Minor Piano Quintet), Tchaikovsky Music Festival, and Wagner Music Festival, to touring as a recitalist, concerto soloist, and chamber musician in Germany, France, Austria, Russia, Italy, Spain, the United States, Japan, Korea, China, and her birth place Taiwan. Since 1996, her performances have been broadcast on television and radio stations frequently throughout the United States. The American Music Scholarship Association has made Lin’s performance of Chopin’s E Minor Piano Concerto as an educational videotape. The numerous prizes she has won include “The Young Artist International Piano Competition”, the “IBLA Grand Prize International Piano Competition”, and the “Rising Star Concert Series Piano Competition”.
In December 2000, Lin was invited to perform a series of concerts in Taiwan. That series, held in The National Concert Hall in Taipei, was an outstanding success. Lin’s reputation in Taiwan as a sensational phenomenon caused the tickets for this series to be sold out in the first three days of sale. As a result of her success, the Taiwanese President delivered a congratulatory telegram and the Taipei City Mayor arranged a basket of flowers to be sent before the series even started. In May, 2001, she was invited to play a solo recital in Barcelona, Spain, hosted by Maria Canals International Piano Foundation; a solo recital in Paris, France, hosted by Yamaha Artist Concert Series; two solo recitals and a concerto concert in Muenchen, Germany; a solo recital in Barletta, Italy; and a concerto concert in Como, Italy. Since 2000, Lin has had a collaborative piano-duo relationship with Armenian pianist Sergei Babayan (Casadasu gold medalist and Artist-in-Residence in The Cleveland Institute of Music). Lin has given concerts at the University of Dayton and Miami University at Oxford since 2002 and was the accompanying pianist for the Lima Piano Concerto Competition in March, 2003. Her CD “In Remembrance of September 11th” has become the “text book” at universities for music appreciation classes. Her concert “Dream of Love” was broadcast on PBS TV in the Fall of 2005. Some of Lin’s recent concerts have included the privilege of performing on the Steinway & Sons “Rhapsody” piano (a specially designed art-case piano in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of George Gershwin); two solo concerts sponsored by Mercedes-Benz in 2006 and 2007; concerts at San Agelo State Museum, TX and master class at San Agelo State University where she performed with Dr. John Irish; a private concert for the Consulate General of Austria and the honor of performing for The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, while he received the Union League of Philadelphia’s Gold Medal Award in 2008; an invitation to perform a solo concert (where she peformed the virtuosic piano tone poem "Schuylkill at Night" composed by Dr. David Laganella) and teach a master class at Wesley College, Delaware in 2009. Lin was invited to be a guest professor at The National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan in 2010 and performed throughout Taiwan including a concert with Dr. John Irish to world premiere "Skeletal Dance" which was dedicated to both John and Helen composed by Australian composer Dr. Houston Dunleavy; featured soloist at Chang-Jung Christian University in Tainan in celebration of its 17th birthday with music director Dr. Ching-Shin Ko (renowned cellist); featured jazz soloist at The National Tsing Hua University with music director Sophia Lin (renowned flutist); and featured soloist at Music Forum Concert Series in Taipei titled "Playing with Fire" (where she world premiered "Trillium" which was dedicated to her composed by New York City composer Jeremiah Bornfield). In 2011, Lin was invited by world renowned soprano Dr. Shudong Braamse (Voice Professor at Southeastern University, Florida and Weifang University, Shandong, China) for an extensive China concert tour, locations including Shandong University, Weihai; Weifang University, Shandong; and the prestigious Shenzhen Concert Hall, Guangzhou.
Lin’s performance has been described as “charismatic, contagious, of the highest level from which she communicates the essence of music combined with her vivid imagination and outstanding pianism….” “…unique as she exhibits great individuality, command, and unusually strong musical conviction with fiery temperament.” Besides her career as a concert pianist, she has been a Master Teacher and Artist-in-Residence at the Community Conservatory of Music in Doylestown, Pennsylvania since 2006. Lin serves as a piano chair at Alvernia College and Albert Conservatory since 2007. Lin was also the Resident Artist for Steinway & Sons pianos at Premier Pianos in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2005. In addition, Lin was a member of the piano faculty for the Preparatory Department, an opera coach for the Opera Department, and a staff accompanist for the String Department at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. There, she held students’ recitals regularly under the sponsorship of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Premier Pianos. After receiving a Master of Music degree at Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, she continued her studies under the multiple gold prize winners and most wanted piano teachers in the United States, the Pridonoff Duo and the eminent scholar James Tocco for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Literature. She has attended the Juilliard School of Music and Michigan State University for her Bachelors Degree where she was under the guidance of Tchaikovsky gold medalist Chen-Zhong Yin and Van Cliburn gold medalist Ralph Votapek.
