Lin tapped to lead Minnesota ensemble

Updated April 24

Chia-Hsuan Lin, associate conductor of the Richmond Symphony since 2016, has been named music director of the Rochester Symphony in Minnesota.

Lin “inspired each section and every player to perform to their full potential,” Joseph Mish, chair of the orchestra’s music director search committee, told the Post-Bulletin of Rochester. “She made an immediate connection with her ease and confidence on the podium and in front of the audience.”

In its current season, the 70-member ensemble is presenting six pairs of subscription concerts, a holiday program and other performances. It also supports a 90-member chorus.

Lin succeeds Jere Lantz, who retired in 2022 after conducting the Rochester Symphony for 42 years.

In Richmond, Lin has been primarily responsible for conducting pops and special programs; casual, children’s and tour concerts; most of the Metro chamber-orchestra series; and working with the symphony’s Young Performers Program. In recent years, she also has conducted regularly in the orchestra’s mainstage series.

She has conducted the Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra, Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Richmond Ballet and other ensembles in Virginia and Taiwan, and has served as a cover (potential substitute) conductor with several major US orchestras.

Born in Taiwan, Lin initially studied piano and percussion. After being injured in an auto accident, she turned to conducting, earning a doctorate after studying with Victor Yampolsky at Northwestern University. Prior to her Richmond appointment, she was assistant conductor of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic in Indiana.

Lin currently divides her time between Richmond and Saint Paul, Minnesota. She is married to James Ferree, former principal horn of the Richmond Symphony, now playing that role in the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

UPDATE: Following her Minnesota appointment, the Richmond Symphony has named Lin principal guest conductor. In that capacity, she will appear with the orchestra “over the next couple of years,” according to a symphony news release.