Ching-Yi Lin, Concertmaster of Paducah Symphony Orchestra

Dr. Ching-Yi Lin is the new concertmaster for the Paducah Symphony Orchestra. She’s an associate professor at Western Kentucky University. The PSO’s new concert season opens Saturday, Sept. 17.

An acclaimed violinist will take the spotlight next weekend at The Carson Center, as the Paducah Symphony Orchestra opens its 2022-23 concert season for the community and officially welcomes Dr. Ching-Yi Lin as its new concertmaster.

Lin, an associate professor at Western Kentucky University, began learning violin at a young age, and has since performed around the world. Her music career, whether playing or teaching masterclasses, has taken her to the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, and to several other countries, including South Korea and Norway, in addition to the United States.

She’s always had an interest in music, having started piano at age 4.

“I enrolled in this special music school, because I grew up in Taiwan, and they required you to have a minor at this ripe age of 7 years old, and violin was what I picked. I just kept playing. My family moved to the states when I was 12. It wasn’t so easy to buy a piano, so I just kind of kept playing (violin),” she told The Sun.

“I also probably just kept playing because I didn’t speak any English, so music and violin seemed like something easier for me ... and to communicate because I didn’t speak the language. I just kept playing, and kept playing, and kept playing, and never thought about doing anything else with my life.”

Lin shared that she loves the sound of the violin, and teaches violin to pupils ranging from young children to graduate students. She thinks playing and teaching violin goes “hand-in hand,” and that teaching actually helps her play better as a musician.

“Inevitably, if you are constantly nagging on your students to have really good technique, you are going to want to go home and try to set a good example,” she said.

Wearing different hats throughout her career, Lin expressed excitement about serving as the PSO’s concertmaster and said she loves the Paducah symphony — its musicians, its conductor and the concert hall of The Carson Center. She also loves the PSO’s programs, noting that the programming introduces repertoire of substance, which was a “really big draw” for her.

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