Conductor Alumnus Wilbur Lin Talks at NTNU
Wilbur Lin, an alumnus of NTNU, was selected as the assistant conductor among hundreds of applicants at Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 2019. At the end of 2020, Lin was invited by National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra to conduct the year end concert of Youth Orchestra. On December 25th, Lin came back to NTNU to share his journey with students of Music Department.
Wilbur founded his own orchestra, the Chamber Philharmonic Taipei, in 2008. Started as a student orchestra, the Chamber Philharmonic Taipei is now a professional chamber orchestra with active annual summer seasons funded by both the Arts Council of Taipei and the Taiwanese Ministry of Culture.
After graduated from NTNU, Lin decided to study abroad after finishing his military service. He spent two years at Royal Northern College of Music for his master’s degree and received his PhD in Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 2018.
Now his job at Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra includes educational program and concert tours. Lin is grateful of the teachers that have taught him along the way, especially Professor Hsu Ching Hsin. Even though they were miles apart when he was studying abroad, Prof. Hsu would watch his conducting videos and remind him what error he should avoid. When he was looking for jobs, Prof. Hsu was truly helpful. Prof. Hsu said that Lin was one of her most memorable students who would come back to guide the concerts of Chamber Philharmonic Taipei every summer.
Although now Lin is perceived as a successful young conductor, he admits that he has been rejected many times when he wanted to apply for schools, master class or for a job. He has sent out 132 application after he graduated and only 2 orchestra asked him to come to interviews. He encourages students to raise questions when at school and not afraid to challenges.