1 >

Biography of Gordon Chin

Born in 1957, Gordon Chin has established himself as one of the most prolific and sought after composers in his native country of Taiwan. Chin’s repertoire includes four symphonies, a cantata, three violin concertos, double concerto, cello concerto, piano concerto, numerous choral works, chamber works, five percussion quartets, and various works for solo instruments. Chin earned his doctoral degree from Eastman School of Music under the tutelage of Samuel Adler and Christopher Rouse.

Chin has been honored by numerous commissions from major ensembles and institutions in North America, Asia and Europe. Timothy Margan of Los Angeles Times describes Chin as "a confident master of the Western modernistic large orchestral idiom." Paul Horsley form The Kansas City Star described the Double Concerto as "Powerful, ambitious piece." Philip Scott, from Fanfare, declared “Chin's Double Concerto for violin and cello is, to my ears, the finest in that form after Brahms.” David from David’s Review Corner mentioned Chin’s Formosa Seasons to be “an engaging piece of modern music, Chin's fresh and inventive use of string sounds bringing a real breath of fresh air.”

Chin’s recent work ‘The Black Bearded Bible Man’, an opera based on a real story of a Canadian missionary in Taiwan during the later part of 19th century, was premiered November 2008. Another recent composition Concerto for Cello and Orchestra was premiered by National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, by cellist Felix Fan with Heiichiro Ohyama as the conductor. An album featuring Chin’s work including Formosa Seasons and Double Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra conducted by Michael Stern with Cho-Liang Lin and Felix Fan as soloists was released by the Naxos Label in February of 2007.

Chin currently serves as Music Director of YinQi Symphony Orchestra & Chorus in Taipei, and is a faculty member of National Taiwan Normal University.