Chia-Hsuan Lin, Ryan Deignan take the lead as Rochester orchestra, choir start new seasons

There’s excitement in Rochester for fans of the arts, with the arrival of two new directors for the city’s premier music ensembles.

Chia-Hsuan Lin will lead the Rochester Symphony and Ryan Deignan takes over as artistic director of the Rochester Choral Arts Ensemble, bringing fresh enthusiasm and perspectives to the longstanding organizations.

Lin, also principal guest conductor of Virginia’s Richmond Symphony, said she was attracted to the Rochester position after working with the Minnesota Orchestra.

“I got to see what fertile ground the state of Minnesota is for arts and music-making, how passionate the audience members are here,” she said. After an audition that included conducting the orchestra, she said, “I felt it just clicked.”

Deignan said the process that brought him to town was “incredibly intentional, reflective of this community; they really wanted to cast the net widely.” He’d been promoted to choral director at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, but because it was an interim position the Rochester job caught his eye.

“It’s off the beaten track, not many have heard of it, and yet it’s so strong,” he said of his new ensemble.

He added that for the first time he’s not a student or a teacher, but as a part-time director of the Honors Choirs of Southeast Minnesota, also based in Rochester, he still gets to work with students and “make an impact on the future of music-making.”

Both newcomers had an early start in music. Lin, a native of Taiwan, began playing the piano at 3 after being mesmerized by a televised concert.

“I just remember the music soaring; I loved the hands flying up and down on the keys. As a little girl, I was just fascinated,” she said.

She persuaded her parents to buy a piano and after fits and starts — “Practicing was never that fun” — she changed teachers in about fifth grade and became hooked.

“Oh, my goodness, I loved the way she talked about music, described music” Lin said. “She used language that I understood, direct and so fun. I wanted to practice. She changed me. It speaks to the power of great music teachers.”

Then percussion entered the picture. Because she loved dancing, Lin took a rhythm percussion class as a young elementary student and got a taste of simple instruments.

“I loved the sound that you could make,” she said.

Because students were required to declare a double major (realize, this is middle school grades), she decided to concentrate on both percussion and piano.

Her love of marimba led her to the Taipei Percussion Group, which she joined while attending National Taiwan Normal University. She later earned a master’s degree at the University of Cincinnati and a doctorate from Northwestern University.

Deignan describes his upbringing in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as “a Von Trapp family thing,” involving singing around the piano and at church.

“My wife makes fun that I didn’t know so much popular music,” he said. “I knew Billy Joel, maybe Queen, but I knew more show tunes. We did more singing than listening. I was just sort of swimming in it.”

Nevertheless, he tried to avoid going into music when it came time for college. At Notre Dame, he thought about studying political science, business or philosophy.

“Then I realized I just missed music so much, making music in a deep meaningful way with other people,” he said.

He transferred to the choral hotbed of Luther College in Iowa, teaching high school music and gaining advanced degrees at the universities of Iowa and North Texas.

The two new leaders differ on the paths that led them to southern Minnesota, but they each expressed a similar appreciation for the support they have found.

“It’s a dream to be able to cultivate and curate a concert program for an entire season,” Lin said. “I love the idea of working with musicians closely, conceiving a vision and seeing it through from beginning to end, with a small but mighty leadership team working by my side.

 “They are exactly the people I want to work with. There’s a supportive, positive work environment that I feel from the top.”

Deignan said of the choir, “This ensemble has 24 people on the board who are truly invested, working to improve the organization and make it more meaningful for the community. There are a number of folks that attend and want to support us; therefore, there’s financial strength here.

“There’s a small staff of about five people who can help run the administration day to day; that allows me to truly hone in on what music can do for people, what singing together means. There’s more time to dream about how to best impact the community and grow the footprint of the organization.”

As part of that mission, he has established a separate all-women ensemble, the 20-voice Choral Arts Treble Singers, because of the tremendous interest during the audition process.

For the upcoming season, which will feature the 60-member original group and the Treble Singers, Deignan has programmed four concerts with the theme “Let Love Come.”

“It’s basically saying, ‘Open yourself to experiences. Open yourself to love,’” he said.  

The first in the series, “Becoming You, Becoming Me” (Oct. 26-27) concentrates on childhood and identity. “Christmas at Assisi: A Mother’s Joy” (Dec. 14-16) marks the return of the ensemble to Lourdes Chapel at Rochester’s Assisi Heights Spirituality Center. “Strangers and Friends” (March 8-9) emphasizes kindness and civility. And “Let Love Come” (May 3-4) celebrates the group’s 40th anniversary.

As to what audiences will hear, Deignan said he believes in mixing genres in what he calls “collage concerts,” following the thread of an idea.

“Instead of combining Mozart and Wagner, we might say let’s do Mozart and the Beach Boys, and maybe a little gospel — really, truly try to reflect the rich variety of vocal music out there,” he said. “We want folks to enjoy not only melody and harmony but to tap their foot and maybe even laugh once or twice.”

Lin’s plan for her first season with the orchestra echoes that theme.

“We have music for everyone,” she said. “We curated music that are iconic masterpieces — Beethoven’s Fifth, Tchaikovsky’s Fifth, fabulous concertos that showcase our wonderful soloists.

“We are also introducing fresh voices, composers of our time. It’s an exciting group including Clarice Assad and Carlos Simon, this generation of composers that is taking the musical stage.”

Indeed, the season opener on Oct. 12 features Ludwig van Beethoven, violinist Eunice Kim on Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and Simon’s Fate Now Conquers, which he has said was inspired by Beethoven.

Five additional concerts round out the season: “Sleepers Awake” (Nov. 16), with music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Clarice Assad and Morten Lauridsen; the holiday concert “Sounds of the Season” (Dec. 21); “The Sound of Fate” (Feb. 8), featuring music of Gioachino Rossini and Pyotr Tchaikovsky; “The Last Romantics” (March 15), highlighting Russian composers; and the season closer “Symphony of Peace” (April 12), including Joseph Haydn’s Mass in Time of War.