It was an unusual sight at a classical music concert finale, when Taiwanese-American violinist Richard Lin (林品任) stood on stage with his right hand raised in a military salute at the end of a performance with the state-run Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) in Taipei.
Most audience members at the National Concert Hall were not expecting what followed, when Lin turned around to pay his respects to his fellow NSO members, as nearly every one of them stood up to give a military salute in return to express their congratulations and well-wishes for Lin.
Photographs of the incident received prominent attention in the media and in Taiwan’s classical music community.
Photo: Ling Mei-hsueh, Taipei Times
Lin was completing Taiwan’s compulsory conscription for male citizens, and was officially finishing his one-year service yesterday, an atypical action for a US citizen.
Already a rising star, having won top prizes at prestigious international music competitions, Lin fulfilled his national duty for Taiwan by entering the alternative military service starting in November last year, upon which he was inducted to work at the NSO, known internationally as the Taiwan Philharmonic.
Lin was born in the US to Taiwanese parents, and had lived and received education in both countries. Lin told reporters he had a choice in deciding to serve Taiwan’s one-year military service, which requires all qualified men aged 18 to 36 to serve.
Photo courtesy of the Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra
“Taiwan is my home. I grew up here and have a deep attachment to Taiwan. People in my family could not just board a flight to visit me any time, so I decided to return and fulfill the military service,” he said.
Because Lin is over 30, “if I did not perform military service, then I could not enter Taiwan for six more years, which also impacted my decision to do compulsory military service,” he said.
“My family roots are in Taiwan, and I have many family members here,” he added.
Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Lin later in childhood returned with his parents to Taiwan and studied through high-school in Taichung, then headed back to the US for higher education and music training at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and then at the Juilliard School in New York City, all while gaining international prominence for strong performances at top competitions, including the Gold Medal prize at the 2018 International Violin Competition in Indianapolis and First Prize at the Sendai International Violin Competition in Japan.
“Many people told me it is a waste of an entire year, undertaking Taiwan’s compulsory military service. But at the NSO, I am a violin soloist, and we go on tour to many places for performances. Throughout this past year, it was a different form of music education for me, and I feel it has been a great experience,” he said.
In his own message after the finale on Sunday, Lin said he had performed 40 concerts with the NSO in Taiwan, Japan and the US over 11 months.
“Doing alternative military service with the Taiwan Philharmonic has been one of my most cherished memories. Working alongside the best musicians in Taiwan and playing for world-class soloists has been truly inspiring,” he said. “Last night was my last performance as a soldier with the orchestra. I was extremely touched when they surprised me with an honoring ceremony. I really look forward to future collaborations.”
German conductor and NSO music director Jun Markl said that Lin had been outstanding in his time with the orchestra.
“We would like for him to stay with us, but he has the worldwide stage to showcase his musical talent, and we wish him the best while looking forward to future collaboration with him,” he said.
Lin is on the bill with the Curtis Institute of Music for its tour of Asia for this year’s autumn season, which has begun with concert events and music education programs in Taiwan’s major cities with Curtis on Tour, performing as a quartet of the Institute’s artistic director Roberto Diaz, cellist Camden Shaw, Lin and Taiwanese pianist Steven Lin (林易).
Taiwan has instituted an alternative military service since 2000, for conscription-age men to serve in government agencies, although it requires meeting physical exam qualifications, other exemptions due to religious beliefs, selective occupational expertise, as well as special programs for “research and development substitute services” for draftees to serve in select companies or semi-government organizations related to the high-tech sector.
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
The 2025 Kaohsiung Wonderland–Winter Amusement Park event has teamed up with the Japanese manga series Chiikawa this year for its opening at Love River Bay yesterday, attracting more than 10,000 visitors, the city government said. Following the success of the “2024 Kaohsiung Wonderland” collaboration with a giant inflatable yellow duck installation designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, this year the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau collaborated with Chiikawa by Japanese illustrator Nagano to present two giant inflatable characters. Two inflatable floats — the main character, Chiikwa, a white bear-like creature with round ears, and Hachiware, a white cat with a blue-tipped tail
RSS