About Me
A violinist coming into her own, Linling Hsu aspires to find her own musical identity within a world of music where genres and cultures continuously blend with one another. Linling’s view of music and sound as a universally accessible language serves as the basis and inspiration for all her musical endeavors ranging from classical and world music fusion to reggae, experimental and interdisciplinary collaborations.
Born into a family of musicians, Linling had her first violin lesson at the age of five. In 2002 she received her B.M. from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University (Houston, TX) under the direction of Kathleen Winkler. Linling spent the next five years going back and forth between her home in California and as a resident artist at The Banff Centre for the Arts.
It was there that Linling met her music partner Amir Amiri, composer and Persian santur player. Together they merge their respective eastern and western classical traditions into original compositions. Amiri and Hsu have performed at Alberta Scene Festival, Suoni Per Il Popolo Festival , Epcor Centre for Performing Arts, C-Jazz Festival, Calgary Folk Festival, Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival, and Festival du Monde d’Arabe and can be heard across Canada on CKUA and CBC Radio.
Linling has performed with artists such as Edgar Meyer, Anton Kuerti, Angela Cheng, Hugh Fraser, John Stetch, Barry Shiffman, Mark Applebaum, and Chen Halevi and participated in music festivals all over the world including Hvar International Music Festival (Croatia), Soesterberg International Music Festival (Holland), Interharmony Music Festival (Switzerland), and Music Academy of the West (California).
Currently based in Los Angeles as a violin teacher and free-lance musician, Linling is also a member of two reggae bands, I-Trinity and Jah Beloved. Her passion for West African music and dance, Middle Eastern music and dance, as well as the intensive asanas of Ashtanga Yoga, have all contributed greatly to her development as a truly diverse musician.
