Pianist Karen Jeng Lin leads a career of variety collaborating with singers, instrumentalists, choruses, opera companies, actors, and dancers. She has performed
with Pittsburgh Opera, Attack Theatre, Wheeling Symphony, Maryland Opera Studio, Bach Choir of Pittsburgh, Junior Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, Amiche Artists, among others. After moving to Pittsburgh in 2012, Karen has been involved with many works of living composers. For Ricky Ian Gordon’s 27 at Pittsburgh Opera, Karen and associate coach James Lesniak rearranged the piano reduction as a four-hand duo for all performances of the premiere. She was also principal pianist for the world premiere of Gilda Lyons’ A New Kind of Fallout at Pittsburgh Festival Opera, keyboardist for Philip Glass’ Hydrogen Jukebox at Carnegie Mellon University, and rehearsal pianist for Laura Kaminsky’s As One at Pittsburgh Opera. Alongside being a performer and coach, Karen is a teaching artist at the education department at Pittsburgh Opera. Karen has been named a Distinguished Scholar of the Arts by the State of Maryland, her home state. She is a graduate of Rice University, University of Maryland, and Mannes College of Music. After six years as a staff pianist at Duquesne University, Karen pursued an Advanced Musical Studies degree in vocal collaborative piano at Carnegie Mellon University, where she studied with Dr. Jocelyn Dueck. Highlights of the 2019-2020 season include a recital with soprano Kristina Bachrach for the Artist Presentation Society in St. Louis, Missouri, rehearsal pianist for the U.S. premiere of The Mother of Fishes by Roger Dannenberg and Jorje Sastre, and holding an interim position as vocal coach and accompanist at Carnegie Mellon University during the Spring 2020 semester.
