Lilin Chen

Pianist and Piano Teacher

Portland, Oregon
Phone (812) 320-1614
NW Portland, off 102nd Avenue

Lilin Chen started playing the piano as a child in her native Taiwan. After winning prizes in competitions as a teenager, she earned a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from National Taiwan Normal University in 1981. Two years later, she received a master’s degree in piano performance from Indiana University as the first music student ever to be admitted from Taiwan. After entering the doctoral program at IU, she returned to Taiwan, where she taught at Fu Jen Catholic University, National Taiwan Normal University, National Taiwan University of the Arts, and National Taipei University of Education. After three years she came back to the United States, receiving a master’s degree in piano accompanying from the University of Southern California in 1992. For the next four years she taught undergraduate and pre-college students at three of the above-mentioned universities in Taiwan, served on numerous competition juries, and performed in the Ars Nova Piano Trio, which toured Taiwan and the United States. In 1996, she went back to her doctoral studies at Indiana University, while serving as an assistant instructor, teaching privately in her own studio, performing as a collaborative pianist, and bringing up a family. She was awarded the doctorate in piano pedagogy from Indiana University in 2009, with a document entitled “Teaching Pre-College Piano Students to Play with Direction and a Sense of Structure” (now available as an e-book on this website).

Dr. Chen finds continual inspiration and vitality in her life philosophy: the integration of body, mind, heart, and spirit. She has been pursuing this philosophy, thereby enlarging her perspective on teaching and performing, through her spiritual practice, meditation, healthful cooking, participating in Authentic Portland, and dancing. She is also a keen follower of energy medicine and assists her husband, David Lasocki, in his healing practice. She especially enjoys playing chamber music, because of the collaborative nature of the music itself and the creative flow and dialogue among the musicians.