Jenny Lin

Jenny Lin distinguishes herself among pianists through her fearless engagement with contemporary works and her dedication to unearthing compositions by overlooked figures from prior eras. Although her programs regularly encompass canonical concertos by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, the breadth of modern and present-day creators she has explored remains extensive, encompassing Bolcom, Boulez, Cage, Ligeti, and Pärt. Even more notable is her willingness to champion music by virtually unknown composers such as Virko Baley, Unsuk Chin, Tsu-Ling Sarana Chou, and Jacqueline Waeber-Diaz, presenting these pieces in repeated recitals. She has further documented several such works across multiple recordings.

Born in Taiwan and raised in Austria, Lin began her training at Vienna's Hochschule für Musik under Noel Flores and continued at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore with Julian Martin. Her development extended through additional studies with Richard Goode, Dmitri Bashkirov, and Andreas Staier. After completing her education, she established her base in New York City, where she performs regularly at the 92nd Street Y, Miller Theater, and the Museum of Modern Art, in addition to appearances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. She has participated frequently in prominent festivals across the United States and Europe, among them Spoleto, Chopin, Ars Musica, and Archipel. Beginning in 2014, she has toured internationally with Philip Glass, interpreting his Etudes alongside the composer.

Lin's recordings have appeared on Hänssler Classic, BIS, Koch International, and Steinway & Sons. Her initial releases for BIS came early in the century with the 2000 album Chinoiserie, featuring Sino-inspired pieces by Adams, Arensky, Busoni, and others, followed in 2002 by the complete piano works of Ruth Crawford Seeger. Later projects include a 2008 Hänssler Classic disc of Bloch's Concerto symphonique, Concerto Grosso, and Scherzo fantasque, recorded with conductor Jiri Starek and the SWR Radio Orchestra Kaiserslautern; that same year's InsomniMania; and a 2011 Mompou collection. In 2015 she ranked among the first Steinway artists to record on the Spirio player piano, collaborating with Uri Caine on The Spirio Sessions. Steinway & Sons issued her album of Glass's piano works in 2020.

Beyond commercial discs, Lin has been featured in other formats, including a 2011 NPR Tiny Desk Concert and the documentaries Cooking with Jenny and Speaking for Myself. She serves on the faculty of the 92nd Street Y and has authored the children's book Melody's Mostly Musical Day, integrating music from diverse periods. The volume subsequently inspired multimedia school concert series and was released as a Steinway & Sons album in 2016.