Victor Lin: Gershwin Reimagined

Victor Lin always brings a thoughtful and imaginative game plan to the Festival. A mainstay at the Workshop since the late 1990s, he has emerged in recent years as a savvy producer with a gift for conceptual concerts that highlight both repertoire and relationships among Workshop faculty. This year, Lin turns his attention to the music of George Gershwin, re-examining one of America’s most enduring composers through a contemporary jazz lens.

Lin’s past Festival projects have explored a wide range of themes, from the music of Disney films and Dave Brubeck to the meeting point of jazz and European classical traditions. He has also revisited the landmark year of 1959, when Brubeck, Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, and Charles Mingus all released seminal recordings. More recently, he has explored music composed for anime and Joe Hisaishi’s scores for Studio Ghibli films, helping introduce that cinematic repertoire to jazz audiences in New York City and beyond.

With this new program, Lin brings that same spirit of curiosity and collaboration to Gershwin’s songs and orchestral works, revealing their rhythmic vitality, harmonic sophistication, and deep jazz roots. His gift lies not only in the material he chooses, but in the musicians he gathers — a rotating cast of friends and colleagues who bring fresh perspective, shared history, and joyful spontaneity.

Artist Website

Columbia University Article

Rutgers-Newark Article

Personnel:

• Victor Lin, piano & violin
• Additional personnel TBA