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Lynn Bechtold, violin/composer
Violinist/composer Lynn Bechtold, a native of Pittsburgh, has appeared in recital throughout the U.S., Asia, Europe, and South America. An advocate of new music, she has worked with composers such as Carter Burwell, Gloria Coates, George Crumb, Beatriz Ferreyra, John Harbison, and Morton Subotnick. Pioneering composer Alvin Lucier wrote his work for violin and electronics, entitled "Violynn," for her. 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 ensembles including Duo Miolina, Missing Link Ensemble, the SEM Ensemble, CompCord Ensemble, and N/S Consonance. Other notable performances have been with Bleecker StQ, DJ Spooky, East Village Opera Company, disco band Escort, Parsons Dance, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Vermont Symphony, and Pablo Ziegler. She has also shared the stage with entertainers such as Jon Batiste, Andrea Bocelli, Boyz II Men, Sarah Brightman, Michael Bublé, Willie Colon, Sheryl Crow, Roberta Flack, Cyndi Lauper, Smokey Robinson, J-Pop band SMAP, Donna Summer, Suzanne Vega, and Stevie Wonder.
An active performer, she has played at diverse venues such as the Blue Note, Carnegie Hall, Citi Field, the Frick Museum, Joe's Pub, Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, The Met Museum, MoMA, National Sawdust, The Skyscraper Museum, The Smithsonian, 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 Literature 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, 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 both acoustic & electroacoustic works and those compositions have been performed on four continents by performers such as CompCord Ensemble, EnterArt Dance, ETHEL, Duo Miolina, Missing Link Ensemble, The Overlook Quartet, Two Sides Sounding, cellists Daniel Hass, Nelly Rocha, and Anja Wood, and Zentripetal. As a composer, she collaborates regularly with visual artist Cecilia Mandrile, and has worked on projects with chef Kurt Gutenbrunner, and tap dancer Max Pollak. In 2023, she was artist-in-residence at Alfred University's Institute for Electronic Arts.
Lynn is on the faculties of Greenwich House Music School and the Town School in NYC, and serves as a violin coach for the Norwalk Youth Symphony in CT. She served on the faculty at Point Counterpoint Festival in VT in 2024 & 2025. She is the recipient of grants or prizes from the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, Carnegie Library, Carnegie Museum, City Artists Corp, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York Foundation for the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NYC Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, Queens Theatre, the Leopold Schepp Foundation, the University of Pittsburgh, and the Hilda Mesta Willis Fund. With her duo Miolina, she has also been awarded grants from American-Scandinavian Foundation, Japan Foundation NY, LMCC, New Music USA, New York State Council on the Arts, New York Women Composers, and Queens Council on the Arts.