victor lin's bio

Biography of Victor j. Lin

“one of the foremost keepers of the flame in jazz today.”
-Jack Kleinsinger, Highlights In Jazz

Victor Lin is an educator and performer from Seattle, WA currently residing in New York City. A jazz pianist and violinist, Victor has an undergraduate degree in music from the University of Washington and a masters degree in jazz studies from Rutgers University, where he was a student of Kenny Barron. He is currently finishing his doctorate in music education at Columbia University Teachers College, where he teaches jazz piano and jazz ensembles.

In New York City, Victor has performed in a wide and eclectic variety of contexts. As a pianist, he has performed at Lincoln Center Out-Of-Doors, Bryant Park’s Piano Series, and recently been featured in Jack Kleinsinger’s “Highlights In Jazz” at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center. In addition, Victor has performed at Flushing Town Hall, The Japan Society, The Blue Note, and is a regular at the well-known Knickerbocker in downtown Manhattan. As a violinist, he has been a part of Frank Vignola’s Hot Club USA and The Howard Fishman Quartet.

Aside from his performance credentials, Victor’s primary focus has been on education. He has been on the faculty of the prestigious Stanford Jazz Workshop for the past eleven years, taught at the Mark O’Connor Fiddle Camp for three years, and currently directs the jazz program at The Calhoun School, a private progressive education school on the upper west side of Manhattan.

Victor has always been focused on a larger scope of education with students of all ages, exploring how best to use music as a means of education about larger issues of culture, race, and society. As a first generation American-born Taiwanese, Victor hopes that his skills as a musician and an educator will serve to raise awareness and break down perceptions of the stereotypes of all races and cultures.