Cho-Liang Lin, a world class violinist, is the featured musician to perform with Felix Fan (cello) and Hong-Kuan Chen (piano) at 2002 TAC/EC. This special classical concert will be held in Fine Arts Center Concert Hall on UMass, Amherst campus at 8:00 pm, July 5th, 2002.

Born in Taiwan, Cho-Liang Lin began his studies at the age of 5. As a teenager in Australia, he was inspired by a master class given by Itzhak Perlman to pursue studies with Mr. Perlman's teacher, Dorothy DeLay. He arrived in New York in 1975 at the age of 15 and was enrolled in the class of Ms. DeLay at The Juilliard School immediately following his audition. Today, he is a member of the Juilliard faculty and resides in New York City. His violin is the 1734 Guarnerius del Gesù "The Duke of Camposelice."

The Taiwanese-American violinist is known the world over for the beauty of his sound as well as his technical mastery and interpretive abilities. He is one of today's foremost violin virtuosos, appearing annually with major orchestras and on key recital and chamber music series. He began his first season as Artistic Director of SummerFest La Jolla in August 2001 and was honored as Musical America's Instrumentalist of the Year for 2000.

Mr. Lin's 2001-02 season begins with an orchestral tour of Australia, featuring performances in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Queensland and Tasmania. In North America he appears with the Montreal Symphony under Charles Dutoit, the Cincinnati Symphony under Paavo Järvi, the New World Symphony under Alasdair Neale, the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia in the new Kimmel Center, and with orchestras in California, Hawaii, Texas and Indiana. With the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center he will perform in New York and in Boston, Buffalo, Miami and West Palm Beach. In Europe he plays in Germany and Italy, in the Netherlands with the Residentie Orchestra, and with the Helsinki Philharmonic (with whom he will record Christopher Rouse's Violin Concerto for the Ondine label). In Asia he plays with the Singapore Symphony and the Malaysian Philharmonic, and travels to China with appearances in Shanghai and Beijing.

In May 2001 Mr. Lin presented the New York premiere of the Rouse Violin Concerto with the New York Philharmonic. His 2000-01 season was also highlighted by orchestral performances with the Boston, Houston, Saint Louis and Vancouver symphonies; overseas he performed with orchestras in France, Sweden, Spain, Japan and Taiwan. In November 2000 the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center saluted Mr. Lin in a special concert with pianists Emanuel Ax, Jon Kimura Parker and Bright Sheng, and cellist Gary Hoffman. Last season he also presented recitals with Mr. Parker in Washington and Dallas and embarked on a 14-city tour of chamber music recitals with pianist Andre-Michel Schub, his longtime recital partner.

Cho-Liang Lin returned to Taiwan in May 2000 to present his second Taipei International Music Festival. Founded in 1997 at the invitation of the president of Taiwan, it is the first large-scale international music festival in the history of his native country. Mr. Lin performed with many of his renowned colleagues in seven sold-out concerts, some of which were shown on giant television simulcasts outside the concert hall. He is planning the next festival in 2003. Mr. Lin is an advocate for contemporary composers. He has premiered concertos by Tan Dun, Joel Hoffman, Christopher Rouse, Elie Siegmeister, Bright Sheng, George Tsontakis and George Walker. In San Diego and Taipei he has presented the world premiere of two concertos by the Taiwanese composer Gordon Chin.

Cho-Liang Lin has released many recordings on the Sony Classical label, among them winners of Gramophone awards and Stereo Review "Record of the Year" honors as well as two Grammy nominations. His most recent Sony Classical albums are a disc of sonatas by Debussy, Poulenc and Ravel with pianist Paul Crossley and a Schubert chamber music disc. He has also recorded Tan Dun's "Out of Peking Opera" with the Helsinki Philharmonic led by Muhai Tang for the Ondine label. A recent release on Decca's Argo label is his recording of Aaron Jay Kernis's Concerto for Violin and Guitar with conductor Hugh Wolff, guitarist Sharon Isbin and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

The Boston TAC/EC 2002 planning committee proudly welcomes Master Lin to join us in Amherst.  Many attendees are excited about the news and look forward to meeting him and enjoying a masterful performance at the concert.