Bio:
1st Lieutenant Darren Y. Lin joined “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band in July 2019 as a percussionist. He was appointed Assistant Director in July 2021 and commissioned to his current rank in January 2022. 1st Lt. Lin is a 2009 graduate of Hershey High School in Pennsylvania. He earned a bachelor’s degree in percussion performance and a teacher’s certificate in 2014 from the University of Michigan (U-M) in Ann Arbor; a master’s degree in percussion performance and literature in 2016 from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester in New York; and pursued additional studies at the New England Conservatory in Boston. His principal percussion teachers were J. William Hudgins of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Michael Burritt of the Eastman School of Music, and Joseph Gramley and Jonathan Ovalle of U-M. He also has studied conducting with Christopher James Lees, Michael Haithcock, and Rodney Dorsey. Prior to joining “The President’s Own,” 1st Lt. Lin was an active educator and performer. He was the adjunct instructor of percussion at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pa., and performed frequently with the Buffalo Philharmonic in Buffalo, N.Y., the New Haven Symphony in Connecticut, and the New World Symphony in Miami. He has performed under the batons of conductors like Valery Gergiev, Michael Tilson Thomas, Andris Nelsons, and JoAnn Falletta. He is equally at home performing contemporary music, having performed with the NakedEye Ensemble and both founding and leading the group [sunflower]. He has worked closely with composers Steve Reich and John Luther Adams, and has premiered works by Dave Hollinden, Molly Joyce, Angélica Negrón, Randall Woolf, and Chris Vu.
