Join us for a special holiday performance by Ian Lin, a young piano virtuoso from Kingston, Rhode Island. This will be Ian’s first appearance at these concerts.

• Program
• About the Artist
  • Ian Lin
• About the Concert
  • Contributions
  • Reservations

Program

About the Artist

Ian Lin

15-year-old Ian Lin, a native Rhode Islander from South Kingstown, is a pianist, composer, and violinist. He is the son of Christine Liu and University of Rhode Island professor Bing-Xuan Lin.

At 6 months old, Ian did not respond to sounds, even the loud banging of pots and pans, but after miraculous healing from above, he was bestowed with exceptional hearing and got into music at a very young age (for details, see this Providence Journal article). However, he still had severe eating disorders for much of his early childhood till age 6. Music served as his main source of entertainment and interest, as he often needed to spend lots of time at home.

Ian had a knack for music; he started playing nursery rhymes on piano by ear at age 2 and began formal piano instruction at age 3. He spent most of his time exploring different musical aspects. He picked up both violin and composition at age 6. He most recently formally studied violin under Alexey Shabalin for several years from ages 11-14. At the same time, he formally started studying music theory. He took a 400-level college composition counterpoint class when he was 7. In the same year, he got 3rd place in MTNA’s national composition competition. Providence Journal called him “The music (little) man.” When he was 10, he was accepted into the best youth orchestra in Rhode Island as the youngest member, the Rhode Island Philharmonic Youth Symphony Orchestra, and became concertmaster of the orchestra when he was 13. Meanwhile, he studied conducting and sang in a choir.

Ian studied piano under Ms. Tanya Schwartzman, the founder and music director of Sharon Music Academy in Sharon, MA from age 6 to 13. In the summer of 2023, Ian decided to focus much more on piano, and moved to Philadelphia to study with Natalie Zhu, the artistic director of the Kingston Chamber Music Festival and a Curtis alumna, and Curtis Professor Meng-Chieh Liu. Ian still finds time for violin, and currently plays as a first violin in the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra. He has continued his composition studies with Ke-Chia Chen.

Ian has won various music awards. Selected piano awards include 1st Prize at International Chopin Competition, Hartford, CT, 1st Prize at Paderewski International Piano Competition, 1st Prize at International Crescendo Little Mozart Competition, 1st Place at Steinway Society of Massachusetts Piano Competition, 3rd place at International Young Pianist Competition in Washington D.C., 3rd place in New England Piano Teachers’ Association Mildred Freiburg Competition, MTNA Piano Competition Rhode Island state winner, and the Best Performer Award at URI Piano Extravaganza, East Carolina Piano Festival concerto competition winner. Selected composition awards include 3rd place at MTNA national composition competition, multiple times winner of MTNA Eastern Division composition competition, New Tribeca Emerging Composer Award (for ages 21 and under), honorable mention at ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) Young Composer Competition (for ages 10-30), and multiple times winner of the NEPTA Alice Proctor Award for outstanding original composition in the classical style.

He has performed at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall and BSO Concert Hall on multiple occasions. Besides playing in formal venues, he loves sharing music with the local community. He regularly gives solo concerts at senior living centers. In February 2024, he played Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the Rhode Island Philharmonic Youth Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Alexey Shabalin. As a winner of East Carolina Piano Festival’s 2024 concerto competition, he will be playing a concerto with the Long Bay Symphony in Myrtle Beach, SC, in their 2025-2026 season. He is also actively involved in chamber music. As part of the Settlement Music School’s, Advanced Study Ensemble Program, he has received their Advanced Study scholarship. He is also a member of Temple Prep’s Center for Gifted Young Musicians, as part of an actively competing piano trio.

Outside of music, Ian’s biggest hobby is tennis. He played as the #2 singles player on the South Kingstown High School tennis team last spring. Additionally, he enjoys playing chess and solving Rubik’s cubes, with a personal best time of 7.26 seconds for the 3x3 cube.

About the Concert

This performance begins at 2:00 pm. Join us an hour earlier for a pre-concert discussion about the music on the program. After the performance, you’ll have an opportunity to meet the artist(s) and learn about their backgrounds, interests, and career plans.

The address of the venue is 103 North Road, Wakefield, Rhode Island 02879. Driving time from Providence, Newport, Westerly, and southeastern Connecticut is under an hour, and Kingston Station is only five miles away.

Map and Directions

Contributions

The suggested contribution for this concert is $40 per person, collected at the door. Children under 18 are welcome to join us free of charge. We accept cash, personal checks, and cards. Checks should be payable to “Core Memory Music”. To make your contribution in advance, click here. All contributions go directly to our performing artists.

Reservations

If you’d like to attend this concert, send us an email with the full name of each person in your party. If seating is still available, we’ll confirm your reservation.

If you can’t attend the concert in person, we invite you to listen to the audio livestream (no reservation required).

Seating capacity for this concert: 30