Drum & Percussion
Growing up in Lake County, Charles started playing piano at a young age, and from the 7th grade through high school he was the music minister for Saint Mary's Immaculate Catholic Church in Lakeport, California. During this time he was also a featured soloist in the Clear Lake High School Jazz Band on both piano and drumkit. After graduating from high school, he enrolled at Saint Mary's College of California, where in May 2019 he graduated with a degree in Math and Computer Science. During his time there he was heavily involved in the Music Department, mostly in the SMC Choirs and Jazz Combos. He quickly became Bass section leader, vocal percussionist, and student lead.
Having led the choir to international acclaim at the Choir Grand Prix of Nations in Budapest in 2016, and to two Silver Medals and the World Choir Games, he was invited back as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music to assist with planning, rehearsing, and assistant directing vocal ensembles in the college. |
Dr. Yi-Hsuan Lin earned his Master of Music degree in Percussion Studies from New York University and Professional Studies Diploma degree from San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied with the prestigious principal percussion of the San Francisco Symphony, Jack Van Geem. In 2015, Dr. Lin earned his doctoral degree in Percussion Performance from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he studied with Ricardo Flores and William Moersch. Specializing in marimba playing, his doctoral thesis is on the unique six-mallet marimba techniques in selected works.
Dr. Lin’s concerto experiences include Alfred Reed’s Concertino for Marimba and Ming-Shong Li’s Chinese Drum Concerto with the school orchestras in Taiwan (2005 and 2007). As a soloist, he has performed numerous recitals and has been active in orchestra and ensemble performances. Recently, he was invited to perform Steve Reich's marimba ensemble work, Six Marimbas, with the San Francisco Symphony members for celebrating the composer's 80th birthday at Davies Symphony Hall. Dr. Lin had participated in various music festivals, such as Nancy Zeltsman Marimba Festival (2010 & 2015), Keiko Abe Marimba Academy (2013), and SoundSCAPE (2014). In 2007, he won the first prize in the percussion category of Taiwan Music Competition. In addition to performing, Dr. Lin enjoys teaching as well. Having plenty of experience coaching percussion ensemble and teaching private lessons, Dr. Lin recently teaches percussion lessons and group class in the bay area. His teaching philosophy is to make music enjoyable to students at all times! His wish for his students is to not only gain musical knowledge but also to feel the joy and peace which music brings to them. |