Chinese

Biography of Gordon Chin

Gordon Chin, born 1957 in Taiwan, is one of the most active composers in his native country. His extensive catalog of compositions includes four symphonies, a cantata, violin concerto, piano concerto, numerous choral works, chamber works, five percussion quartets, and works for solo instruments. Chin, who has a DMA degree from Eastman School of Music while studying with Samuel Adler and Christopher Rouse, currently serves as the music director of Yin-Qi Chorus and Symphony Orchestra in Taipei, and he is a faculty member of Taiwan National Normal University.

   Chin's works have been performed world wide by ensembles such as Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Asia Pacific Orchestra in Los Angeles, San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Yuodia Chorus and Orchestra in Tokyo, Ensemble 2e2m of France, Amadinda Percussion Group of Hungary, among others.

Timothy Mangan of the Los Angeles Times describes Gordon Chin as "a confident master of the Western modernistic large orchestral idiom." A review from the Dallas Morning News by John Ardoin praises Mr. Chin's Phantasy for violin and piano as "a strong, assured piece of writing that flirted with atonality but had no trouble in communicating its ideas to an audience with skill and poise." Valerie Scher, the music critic from the San Diego Tribute, after hearing Formosa Seasons, described Chin as "clearly an impressive talent with a rising reputation", and the work is "combined edgy vitality with confident handling of string sonorities"

In the current season, violinist Cho-Liang Lin will premiere two violin works by Chin. One work, "Formosa Seasons," will be performed with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra under its music director Jung-Ho Pak. The other work, his first violin concerto, will be presented with the Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra and its music director, Jahja Ling. Both of these works are commissioned for Mr. Lin. Other new works by Mr. Chin include a percussion concerto as well as a clarinet concerto. The premiere of these works will take place in Taiwan and Japan this season with Mr. Chin as conductor.