ABOUT

Photo Eric Somers

Violinist/composer Lynn Bechtold, a native of Pittsburgh, has appeared in recital throughout the U.S., Argentina, Canada, France, Germany, Holland, Japan, and Switzerland. An advocate of new music, she has worked with composers such as Derek Bermel, Carter Burwell, Gloria Coates, George Crumb, Beatriz Ferreyra, John Harbison, and Morton Subotnick, and has premiered works on the Tribeca New Music Festival and the Princeton Composers' Series. In 2001, she gave the premiere of Violynn, a work for violin and electronics written for her by Alvin Lucier. All About Jazz noted her for her "virtuosity and technical expertise," I CARE IF YOU LISTEN pointed out her "brilliance of sound, technical mastery, and stunning expressivity," San Diego Story called her "unapologetically dominating," and Strings Magazine labeled her "impressive" and "close to the edge."

She performs in groups including Miolina, Missing Link Ensemble, the SEM Ensemble, CompCord Ensemble, and N/S Consonance. Past groups include Zentripetal, Bleecker StQ, Quartet Metadata, Tenth Intervention, and NineLive. Other performances have been with Absolute Ensemble, Alison Cook Beatty Dance, Bleecker StQ, DJ Spooky, East Village Opera Company, Emily Johnson/Catalyst Dance, EnterArt, disco band Escort, Eternal Tango Orchestra, Glass Farm Ensemble, Lumina String Quartet, NY Symphonic Ensemble, Parsons Dance, Paul Taylor Dance Company, 10 Hairy Legs, Vermont Symphony, VisionIntoArt, VOX Opera Readings, and Pablo Ziegler. She has also performed with entertainers such as Boyz II Men, Sarah Brightman, Michael Bublé, Willie Colon, Sheryl Crow, Dead Can Dance, Darcy James Argue's Secret Society Band, Roberta Flack, Josh Groban, Cyndi Lauper, Left Banke, Smokey Robinson, J-Pop band SMAP, Donna Summer, Suzanne Vega, and Stevie Wonder. In a work by artist Derrick Adams, she was part of Performa '13, the performance art biennial. Busy as a concert producer as well, she co-directs Ladies First, a concert series highlighting female diversity in music and other fields.

An active performer, she has played at diverse venues such as the Blue Note, Bowery Ballroom, Carnegie Hall, Citi Field, the Frick Museum, the Harvard Club, Joe's Pub, Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, Merkin Hall, MoMA, National Sawdust, nublu, le Poisson Rouge, Radio City Music Hall, the Smithsonian, St. John the Divine, and The Whitney Museum. Radio/TV broadcasts include CBC, NHK, WKCR, WNYC, CBS Morning Show, Good Day NY, 30 Rock, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

Lynn received her Masters Degree from Mannes–The New School for Music, where she was a student of noted violinist Felix Galimir. Prior to that, she received a double-degree in Violin and English from New England Conservatory of Music and Tufts University. While at NEC, she worked with visiting composers John Cage, Gyorgi Ligeti, and Toru Takemitsu, among others. She has participated in festivals including Kneisel Hall, Meadowmount, Musicorda, Pacific Music Festival, Scotia Festival, and both Spoleto Festivals, as well as masterclasses with Pierre Amoyal, Lydian String Quartet, Orion String Quartet, Quatuor Diotima, and Frances-Marie Uitti.

She composes electroacoustic works, and writes news articles about food/music/life, when time allows. Her compositions have been performed on various series and festivals, including Access Contemporary Music, Birmingham New Music Festival, Circuit Bridges, Composers Concordance, COMPOSERSFest XIII, Composers Voice, JUMP, La Cupula Galeria de Arte Livestream Series, Music With a View, NWEAMO, Relevant Tones, Soft Series, Sonic Circuits Festival, Sound of Silent Film Festival, and Sound Traffic, and at venues such as the Austrian Cultural Forum NYC, Bohemian National Hall, Fundación Beethoven in Buenos Aires, Institut Finlandais in Paris, National Opera Center, Nordia House in Portland, and Universidad Nacional in Córdoba. Her works have been performed by performers such as CompCord Ensemble, EnterArt Dance, Miolina, Missing Link Ensemble, The Overlook Quartet, Two Sides Sounding, cellist Anja Wood, and Zentripetal. As a composer, she has collaborated with artist Cecilia Mandrile, with chef Kurt Gutenbrunner, and with tap dancer Max Pollak. In 2023, she was in residence at Alfred University's Institute for Electronic Arts.

Lynn is on the faculties of the Dwight School, Greenwich House Music School and the Town School in NYC, and serves as a violin coach for the Norwalk Youth Symphony in CT. She joins the faculty of Point Counterpoint Chamber Music Festival in 2024. She is the recipient of grants from American-Scandinavian Foundation, City Artists Corp, Japan Foundation NY, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New Music USA, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, New York Women Composers, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NYC Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, Queens Council on the Arts, Queens Theatre, the Leopold Schepp Foundation, and the Hilda Mesta WIllis Fund. In 2018, she became a board member of New York Women Composers.

LINKS:

Miolina (violin duo): https://www.miolinanyc.com/

Missing Link Ensemble (collective): https://missing-link-ensemble.com/

Ladies First (concert series): http://ladiesfirstnyc.wixsite.com/ladiesfirstnyc

Quartet Metadata (string quartet): http://quartetmetadata.wixsite.com/metadata

Point Counterpoint (chamber music festival): https://pointcp.com/

Dwight School: https://www.dwight.edu/

Greenwich House Music School: http://www.greenwichhouse.org/music_school/index

The Town School: https://thetownschool.org/

Norwalk Youth Symphony: http://norwalkyouthsymphony.org/