Tony Chen Lin
Born in China, New Zealand pianist Tony Chen Lin’s first encounter with music came at the age of 12 with keyboard lessons before advancing to piano the following year. He made his concerto debut at 14 after winning the Christchurch Junior Concerto Competition. Since then he has won the 40th New Zealand National Concerto Competition in 2007, 2nd prize and the Best Classical Sonata Performance Award at the 2008 Kerikeri International Piano Competition, 2nd at the 2011 Lepthien Piano Competition in Germany, is a multiple recipient of the Dame Malvina Major Foundation Arts Excellence Award, and has received support from the Farina Thompson Charitable Trust, the Anne Reid Memorial Trust, Kiwi Music and Keith Laugesen scholarships.

After receiving his Bachelor of Music in piano performance and composition with Péter Nagy and Gao Ping at Canterbury University in 2009, Tony moved to Europe where he completed his Master of Music under Gilead Mishory and Andreas Immer at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany. In 2015 he graduated from the Konzertexamen (Soloist Diploma) programme with Distinction. He studied part-time with Balázs Szokolay at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, and has benefited immensely from the mentorship of Chilean pianist, Edith Fischer.

Tony regularly performs in New Zealand and Europe, notably at the Semaine Internationale Piano & Musique de Chambre festival in Switzerland where he in recent years gave masterclasses and conducted, and as soloist with the Stuttgart State Orchestra as part of the “Rising Stars!” Festival. Recent highlights include performances of Bartók’s First Piano Concerto, a solo tour with Chamber Music New Zealand, performing with the renowned Quatuor Sine Nomine, and serving as an adjudicator at the Royal Over-Seas League ARTS Chamber Music Competition. Tony has received masterclasses from renowned pianists such as Paul Badura-Skoda, Ferenc Rados, Leon Fleisher, Andrzej Jasiński, Jorge Pepi-Alos, Dmitri Bashkirov, Robert Levin, Lilya Zilberstein and Jean-Marc Luisada.

As a composer, Tony has had works played by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, and Christchurch Youth Orchestra. He is a four-time recipient of the Lilburn Trust Student Composition Award, as well as the 2007 NZSO Todd Young Composer Award.

Tony’s debut solo album will be released in 2018 on Rattle Records.