Tony Chen Lin - Piano

*SPECIAL SUNDAY GREAT HALL LUNCHTIME CONCERT*

Chinese-New Zealand pianist Tony Chen LIN regularly performs in New Zealand and Europe, notably at the Semaine Internationale Piano & Musique de Chambre festival in Switzerland. His 2018 debut album DIGRESSIONS on Rattle Records received critical acclaim and reached No.1 on the New
Zealand Classical Charts.

Tony started with keyboard lessons at the age of 12, advancing to piano the following year and made his concerto debut aged 14 after winning the Christchurch Junior Concerto Competition. He won 1st prize at the 40th New Zealand National Concerto Competition, 1st prize at the Weiner Leó
National Chamber Music Competition in Budapest, 2nd prize and the Best Classical Sonata Performance Award at the Kerikeri International Piano Competition, and 2nd at the Lepthien Piano Competition.

He is a multiple recipient of the Dame Malvina Major Foundation Arts Excellence Award. After completing his Bachelor of Music (First Class Honours) in piano and composition with Péter Nagy and Gao Ping at Canterbury University, Tony moved to Europe where he completed his Master of Music and Konzertexamen (Soloist Diploma) with Distinction at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany. He also received mentoring from Balázs Szokolay and András Kemenes at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, and has benefited immensely from the mentorship of pianist Edith Fischer. Tony has participated in numerous masterclasses (Lucerne Festival, Emil Gilels Foundation Festival, Cohilia International Arts Festival, among others) with renowned pianists such as Paul Badura-Skoda, Ferenc Rados, Leon Fleisher, Andrzej Jasiński, Jorge Pepi-Alos, Dmitri Bashkirov, Robert Levin, Lilya Zilberstein and Jean-Marc Luisada.

A passionate chamber musician, Tony works with various instruments and has performed with renowned groups such as the Quatuor Sine Nomine. He regularly performs in a cello-piano duo with his duo partner, Balázs Dolfin. His compositions have been performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, und Christchurch Youth Orchestra.

Tony is currently based in Budapest and is pursuing his DLA (Doctor Liberalium Artium) at the Liszt Academy of Music.

This event is part of our 2025 Great Hall Lunchtime Concerts at The Arts Centre.