Tony Chen Lin, piano
Chinese-New Zealand pianist Tony Chen LIN has been described by Tamás Vásáry as “a true artist … a musician who has something truly exceptional to say in music.” Praised for his poetic insight and imaginative programming, he performs throughout New Zealand and Europe, and is a regular guest at Switzerland’s Semaine Internationale Piano & Musique de Chambre. His acclaimed debut album, DIGRESSIONS (Rattle Records), topped New Zealand’s Classical Charts.
A prizewinner at the New Zealand National Concerto Competition, Weiner Leó National Chamber Music Competition, and Kerikeri International Piano Competition, Tony studied with Péter Nagy and Gao Ping before completing his Master of Music and Konzertexamen (mit Auszeichnung) at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany. He continued at the Liszt Academy in Budapest under Balázs Szokolay and András Kemenes, and has been mentored by Edith Fischer and worked with Paul Badura-Skoda, Ferenc Rados, and Leon Fleisher. A passionate chamber musician, Tony performs regularly with Hungarian cellist Balázs Dolfin. In 2026, the Dolfin-Lin Duo toured New Zealand with Chamber Music New Zealand. His compositions have been performed by major New Zealand orchestras.
Tony lives and works in Budapest, where he is completing his Doctor of Liberal Arts at the Liszt Academy of Music.
Program Summary
There is a tea party scene in E. T. A. Hoffmann’s Kreisleriana in which the eccentric musical genius Johannes Kreisler is coaxed into entertaining the guests. Reluctantly, he begins J. S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations, hoping to make these Philistines “die of boredom.” But upon reaching the final variation, the Quodlibet, Kreisler is suddenly seized by a manic creative impulse to spin “a thousand imitations” of its themes. He begins to improvise.
Enter Robert Schumann.
From this literary premise, this programme imagines Schumann’s Kreisleriana as a continuation of Bach’s Goldberg Variations through Kreisler’s improvisations.
Program
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (selections)
Robert Schumann (1810–1856)
Kreisleriana: Fantasien für das Piano-Forte, Op. 16 (Original 1838 version)
I. Äußerst bewegt
II. Sehr innig und nicht zu rasch
III. Sehr aufgeregt
IV. Sehr langsam
V. Sehr lebhaft
VI. Sehr langsam
VII. Sehr rasch
VIII. Schnell und spielend
We invite you to be present and turn off your phones.
Photography and recording are not permitted.
We are gathered together for this event on the ancestral territory of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓-speaking Musqueam peoples.
Program brochure available soon.
Tickets (also available at the door)
We are unable to accept cash at the door.
