Pianist Jenny Lin follows two highly acclaimed albums of music by Philip Glass with a recording of the Piano Sonata, a dramatic work featuring his hallmark polyrhythms.

Jenny Lin delivers a vividly arresting interpretation of this major composition by the master of musical minimalism. 
 

Pianist Jenny Lin’s continues to champion the work of Philip Glass with a new recording of his Piano Sonata (STNS 30236), available August 2, 2024 on the Steinway & Sons label.

The Piano Sonata (2019) is about 30 minutes long and is cast in three movements. Glass says it is a piece “bursting with ideas.” He claims that the piece is related to his work of the past several years like his Symphony No.12 (2019) or his Percussion Quartet (2018) which were pieces that addressed ways that instruments play material. However while Glass was working on these pieces he said, “I began to write in a new way. I began to see how the music unraveled. It turns out that the piano is the best place to work out these kinds of things. This [the Piano Sonata] is the most sophisticated form of these ideas.” 

 

"Lin shows a deep understanding and love for Glass’s music as well as the willingness to do new things with it."

American Record Guide
 

"Lin offers some of the widest dynamic ranges to be heard on recordings of Glass' keyboard and chamber music, and her performances are sweeping and powerful."

AllMusic Guide
 

"Glass is stereotypically expected to be performed in metronomically precise rhythms and even, or at least terraced, dynamics. Conversely, Lin’s playing is unusually expressive, inclusive of the use of rhythmic flexibility and graduated dynamic phrasing." 

Fanfare
 

Album Credits

Philip Glass: Piano Sonata / Jenny Lin • STNS 30236

Release Date: 8/2/2024 

Recorded 2022 at Steinway Hall, New York City.   

Producer: Jon Feidner

Engineers:  Joshua Frey, Lauren Sclafani, Melody Nieun Hwang
Mixing and Mastering: Daniel Shores

Executive Producers: Eric Feidner, Jon Feidner

Art Direction: Jackie Fugere

Design: Cover to Cover Design, Anilda Carrasquillo

Project Coordinator: Renée Oakford
Piano Technician:  John Veitch
Piano: Steinway Model D #607799 (New York) 

About the Artist

Jenny Lin, a Steinway Artist, has made a name for herself on the world stage thanks to her “remarkable technical command” and “gift for melodic flow” (New York Times). The Washington Post has extolled her “confident fingers” and “spectacular technique,” while Gramophone has hailed her as “an exceptionally sensitive pianist.”

She was born in Taiwan, raised in Austria, and moved to New York, where she resides. At the age of four, with no piano at home, she began playing the instrument at her grandmother’s house. Educated in Europe and the US, she has built an international reputation distinguished by inventive collaborations with a breadth of artists, and has performed widely with renowned orchestras and symphonies at the world’s most notable concert halls.

Lin has a close affinity with Philip Glass, whose Etudes she performs globally, and which inspired her to embark on a commissioning initiative, The Etudes Project. She is the featured pianist in Elliot Goldenthal’s original motion picture score for Julie Taymor’s film, The Glorias, and the central figure in Cooking for Jenny by Felix Cabez for Elemental Films, a musical documentary portraying her journey to Spain, among other media appearances such as CBS Sunday Morning, NPR’s Performance Today.

Her discography numbers more than 50 recordings, ranging from the classic piano canon to modern milestones to Broadway songs. Her passion for education led her to create Melody’s Mostly Musical Day, a musical picture book for children told in classical piano pieces, which she developed into a multimedia concert that has toured the continent.

Fluent in English, German, Mandarin, and French, Lin holds a bachelor’s degree in German Literature from The Johns Hopkins University and studied music at the Hochschule für Musik, and at the Peabody Conservatory.

She was recently appointed Executive Director of the Manchester Music Festival, and is curently overseeing its 50th Anniversary Season.

About Steinway & Sons label

The STEINWAY & SONS music label produces exceptional albums of solo piano music across all genres. The label — a division of STEINWAY & SONS, maker of the world’s finest pianos — is a perfect vessel for producing the finest quality recordings by some of the most talented pianists in the world.