Lin, Cho-Liang
Lin, Cho-Liang
Lin, Cho-Liang, outstanding Chinese-born American violinist; b. Hsin-Chu, Taiwan, Jan. 29, 1960. He began to study the violin as a child and won the Taiwan National Youth Violin Competition at age 10. When he was 12, he became a pupil of Robert Pikier at the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music in Sydney, and when he was 15, he went to the U.S., where he enrolled at the Juilliard School in N.Y. as a scholarship student of Dorothy DeLay (graduated, 1981). He won wide notice when he was chosen to play at the inaugural concert in Washington, D.C., for President Jimmy Carter in 1977; that same year, he won first prize in the Queen Sofia International Competition in Madrid. In subsequent years, he pursued a highly rewarding career as a virtuoso, touring throughout the world; he appeared as a soloist with virtually every major orch., and also was active as a recitalist and chamber music player. In 1988 he became a naturalized U.S. citizen. His extensive repertoire ranges from the standard literature to specially commissioned works. In his performances, he combines effortless technique with a beguiling luminosity of tone.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire