Photo by Mia Farinelli
Bryan Lin is a Taiwanese-American conductor, composer, instrumentalist, vocalist, and arts administrator.
As a conductor, he is known for his versatility across genres and finds himself equally at home with choral and instrumental music while being a champion for new works. In the fall of 2022, he joined the faculty at Mannes Prep at The New School where he directs the Senior Chorus. He recently concluded a 2-year contract as Assistant Conductor for The Dessoff Choirs under the direction of Malcolm Merriweather. For the 2023-2024 season, he joins C4: The Choral Composer-Conductor Collective in New York City.
Bryan’s compositions use humor and social commentary to smear the boundaries of genres and traditions. Subject matters for past works have ranged from climate change denial to the vanity of self-promotion on social media. His harmonic and rhythmic sensibilities draw from minimalism and postmodern styles, a product of his training as a jazz saxophonist. Collaborations and commissions include Musaics of the Bay, International Orange Chorale of San Francisco, Guerrilla Composers Guild, Choral Chameleon, San Francisco Choral Artists, soprano Naomi Columna, Lehigh University Philharmonic Orchestra, and Monocacy Chamber Orchestra.
In addition to performing and composing, Bryan enjoys an active career in arts administration and currently works at Miller Theatre at Columbia University, New York City’s leading new music presenter. He was previously the Manager of Ensemble Operations at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM), overseeing all artistic operations for collegiate ensembles and working closely with prolific conductors such as Edwin Outwater and Nicole Paiement. In 2017, he was the Director of Hot Air Music Festival's eighth season, an annual day-long new music marathon held at SFCM.
Bryan received his M.M. in Composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and holds two degrees from Lehigh University — a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a B.A. in Music — where he was also music director of the co-ed a cappella group Off The Record. He has studied composition with David Garner, Paul Salerni, Steven Sametz, David Conte, and Bill Warfield. His conducting mentors include Malcolm Merriweather, Mark Shapiro, Vince Peterson, Matthew Oltman, and Steven Sametz. Bryan has studied composition at the European American Musical Alliance Summer Institute in Paris in 2016 and was a Conducting Fellow this past summer at the Atlanta Summer Conducting Institute.
As a conductor, he is known for his versatility across genres and finds himself equally at home with choral and instrumental music while being a champion for new works. In the fall of 2022, he joined the faculty at Mannes Prep at The New School where he directs the Senior Chorus. He recently concluded a 2-year contract as Assistant Conductor for The Dessoff Choirs under the direction of Malcolm Merriweather. For the 2023-2024 season, he joins C4: The Choral Composer-Conductor Collective in New York City.
Bryan’s compositions use humor and social commentary to smear the boundaries of genres and traditions. Subject matters for past works have ranged from climate change denial to the vanity of self-promotion on social media. His harmonic and rhythmic sensibilities draw from minimalism and postmodern styles, a product of his training as a jazz saxophonist. Collaborations and commissions include Musaics of the Bay, International Orange Chorale of San Francisco, Guerrilla Composers Guild, Choral Chameleon, San Francisco Choral Artists, soprano Naomi Columna, Lehigh University Philharmonic Orchestra, and Monocacy Chamber Orchestra.
In addition to performing and composing, Bryan enjoys an active career in arts administration and currently works at Miller Theatre at Columbia University, New York City’s leading new music presenter. He was previously the Manager of Ensemble Operations at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM), overseeing all artistic operations for collegiate ensembles and working closely with prolific conductors such as Edwin Outwater and Nicole Paiement. In 2017, he was the Director of Hot Air Music Festival's eighth season, an annual day-long new music marathon held at SFCM.
Bryan received his M.M. in Composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and holds two degrees from Lehigh University — a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a B.A. in Music — where he was also music director of the co-ed a cappella group Off The Record. He has studied composition with David Garner, Paul Salerni, Steven Sametz, David Conte, and Bill Warfield. His conducting mentors include Malcolm Merriweather, Mark Shapiro, Vince Peterson, Matthew Oltman, and Steven Sametz. Bryan has studied composition at the European American Musical Alliance Summer Institute in Paris in 2016 and was a Conducting Fellow this past summer at the Atlanta Summer Conducting Institute.