Lin, Yang

(Shanghai, China)

Pianist/Coach Yang Lin is a first-year Adler Fellow with San Francisco Opera where this season’s assignments include Bohème Out of the Box and Madama Butterfly. A passionate performer of Wagner, he has collaborated closely with renowned soprano Jane Eaglen, prompting the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to write of recent performances, “Mr. Lin played with unfailing accuracy and attention to color and detail that went far to compensate for lack of an orchestra in the big scenes.”

Lin recently served on the music staff of Lyric Opera of Kansas City, where he joined productions of Amahl and the Night Visitors, La traviata, Carmen, Tosca, and The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs. He has worked with other companies across North America and China, including Cincinnati Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Pittsburgh Festival Opera, Canadian Vocal Arts Institute, I Sing Beijing, National Center for the Performing Arts, and Shanghai Theater Academy.

Lin’s operatic repertoire also includes Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte, The Bartered Bride, La clemenza di Tito, Dinner at Eight, Cendrillon, Hansel and Gretel, Gianni Schicchi, La bohéme, Otello, Lohengrin and Die Fledermaus.

Lin received his training from the Merola Opera Program, Aspen Music Festival, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, New England Conservatory, and Shanghai Conservatory.

Born into a family steeped in the Western operatic tradition, Lin’s parents and grandparents served as principal conductor, mezzo-soprano, violinist, and chorus pianist for the Shanghai Opera. As a rebellious teenager determined to avoid the family business, Lin intended to pursue a career in engineering, until a recording of Tosca moved him so much that he asked his father for a score to explore, thus beginning his passion for the artform.