小提琴／辛明峰
Violin: Ming-Feng Hsin  

辛明峰(前任美國紐約大都會歌劇院第一小提琴與紐約長島南岸交響樂團指揮)                                                        

年僅15歲就被蘇格蘭人報 （The Scotsman) 宣稱為"註定成為全世界新一代小提琴巨匠之一"的辛明峰，經歷過一個很不尋常的音樂生涯。 他從一個世界級的獨奏家，因為手意外受傷，改轉成為一位科班出生又經驗廣泛的指揮家，接著又擔任紐約大都會歌劇院樂團的第一小提琴手，擁有20多年的頂尖樂團演出經驗以及歌劇薰陶。  正由於這個過程， 使得辛明峰能夠結合他多方面的跨領域造詣， 成為了一位更加有內涵和說服力的指揮家和小提琴演奏家。  

    辛明峰出生於臺灣台南，小時師事於鄭昭明及李淑德，並加入當時台灣首屈一指之三B兒童管弦樂團。12歲時由於得到國泰航空小提琴大賽冠軍，應邀到香港參加藝術節，在那受到小提琴泰斗梅紐因(Yehudi Menuhin)之賞識及邀約到英國之梅紐因音樂學院同他學習。

在英國辛明峰除了屢次同恩師梅紐因同台演出外，也在美國200週年獨立紀念時應邀到華盛頓為福特總統及英國女王依莉沙白擔任獨奏演出。他並獲得蘇格蘭格拉斯高（Glasgow）國際小提琴比賽首獎，與蘇格蘭國家樂團以及英國廣播樂團BBC等知名樂團獨奏演出，且在倫敦依莉莎白女王演奏廳首演。當時蘇格蘭人報( The Scotsman）宣稱"辛明峰已註定成為全世界新一代小提琴巨匠之一"。 在轉往美國費城之蔻緹斯Curtis音樂學院與當代大師加拉米安Galamian以及Brodsky進修後，辛明峰獲得了全美音樂協會聯盟之比賽冠軍，也在Montreal蒙特羅等著名國際小提琴比賽中獲獎，並展開了其繁忙之演出事業。

由於一次運動意外傷到左手手指，辛明峰在二十出頭被迫放棄其小提琴之演出。經過一段艱辛求醫無效，前途茫茫的日子，他決定還是要回到舞台上傳達他熱愛的音樂，因而果斷投入指揮。他首先到休斯頓Rice大學攻讀指揮碩士，再贏得Bruno Walter 指揮獎以全額獎學金進入每年只收一至二名學生的Juilliard茱麗亞音樂學院指揮班裡，成為名師Otto Werner Mueller之門徒。當時Mueller的學生包括前任紐約愛樂總監Alan Gilbert以及中國著名指揮家胡咏言。

畢業後辛君即在Affiliate Artist指揮比賽中獲勝，踏入其指揮生涯。他多年擔任紐約長島的南岸交響樂團之總監，以及Solisti New York 室內樂團之助理指揮，也以常任指揮身份帶領過紐約州(Empire State Youth Orchestra)，紐澤西州及康州等青少年樂團，並指揮過茱麗亞Juilliard音樂學院管弦樂團及高中部樂團，在紐約林肯中心演出。其他客席指揮活動包括亞斯本Aspen、OK Mozart及Monteux 等音樂季樂團、Curtis音樂院樂團、New Amsterdam樂團、Cayuga室內樂團、Roanoke樂團等等。台灣方面辛明峰也屢次應邀指揮台北市立交響樂團，國家音樂廳交響樂團以及台中的國立台灣交響樂團等等。 他並帶領台北藝術大學樂團到日本巡迴，在東京大學等地演出。

    1994年起辛明峰開始在紐約大都會歌劇院樂團工作。 他本來只想考到替補的機會在樂團裡學習歌劇，幫助他未來歌劇的指揮，沒想到雖已十年只偶爾拉琴，竟然擊敗數百勁敵贏得唯一的第一小提琴職位。 他與該團雖然一年有26個歌劇和近140場的演出，但仍設法維持著自己的指揮及小提琴獨奏事業。除了南岸交響樂團總監之職務外，他創辦了一個以華人為主的紐約最頂尖音樂家組成的室內樂團Prometheus Chamber Orchestra，在紐約洛克菲勒中心演出。 他也開始踏入歌劇指揮，應邀與台北市交在台北國家劇院指揮了”阿依逹” (Aida) 及”漂泊的荷蘭人” (Flying Dutchman)，並在捷克Opava 城之國際歌劇指揮及歌手音樂季比賽中獲獎，與當地之Silesian State Opera演出了 ”波西米亞人” (La Boheme)和 “假面舞會” (Un Ballo in Maschera)。

小提琴方面辛明峰的手傷也由於拉歌劇的長期鍛鍊，已漸漸完全復原。近年來除了一連串與大都會樂團同事的室內樂演出活動外，還同他的鋼琴家妹妹辛幸純合作演出，並也經常同時以指揮兼小提琴獨奏身份帶領過不少樂團。 他近來獨奏過的協奏曲包括 Tchaikovsky、Brahms、Mendelssohn、Prokofiev、Beethoven、Sibelius、Mozart 、Schumann 和 Brahms 雙協奏曲等等。另外在紐約大都會歌劇院世界首演之 ”Great Gatsby” 歌劇裡，辛君也被邀請擔任極為重要之台上獨奏部份，深獲好評。

辛明峰現已從服務24年的大都會歌劇院卸任，有更多的時間從事演出與教學，如瑞士的Talis Festival and Academy；他與小提琴家錢汶女士（任職於大都會歌劇院與Mannes音樂院）與兩位小孩定居紐約。紐約曼尼斯（Mannes）音樂學院已於2021年春天正式聘請辛明峰為該校的小提琴教授。

Violinist and conductor Ming-Feng Hsin began his violin studies at the age of six in his native Tainan, Taiwan. At age twelve he was awarded the first prize in the Cathay Pacific Airlines Violin Competition. As part of the prize, he was invited to attend the Hong Kong Music Festival, where Yehudi Menuhin heard him and brought him to England to study with him in his school. Mr. Hsin’s solo career began when he won the Glasgow International Violin Competition at the age of fifteen. He subsequently performed with the Scottish National Orchestra and the BBC Orchestra to rave reviews (hailed by The Scotsman as “destined to be one of the giants of the next generation.”) and made his London debut at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Mr. Hsin has performed throughout Great Britain with his mentor Lord Yehudi Menuhin and was invited to Washington D.C. as the featured soloist at a special concert for President Ford and Queen Elizabeth of England during the bicentennial celebrations. After coming to the U.S. to study with Ivan Galamian, Jascha Brodsky and David Cerone at the Curtis Institute of Music, Mr. Hsin was awarded top prizes at several competitions including the Montreal International Violin competition, and has since concertized extensively in the U.S. as well as in Europe and Taiwan, as both soloist and chamber musician.

In his early twenties, Mr. Hsin’s career as a violinist was interrupted due to a hand injury from an accident. This injury has since gradually healed, but in the many years away from the violin, Mr. Hsin actively pursued conducting. He holds advanced degrees in orchestral conducting from the Juilliard School (with Otto Werner Mueller) as well as Rice University in Houston, and was a student of Charles Bruck at the Monteux School for Conductors for five summers. Mr. Hsin was the Music Director of the South Shore Symphony in Long Island, New York for many years. He has conducted many orchestras throughout the country, and has worked with several important youth orchestras in the New York area including the Empire State, Norwalk and Juilliard Pre College youth orchestras. As an opera conductor, Mr. Hsin’s has led productions of Aida and The Flying Dutchman at the National Theater in Taipei with casts of international stars, and La Boheme and Un Ballo In Maschera with the Silesian State Opera in the Czech Republic. He also conducted several performances with the Prometheus Chamber Orchestra as well as the Curtis Institute of Music Chamber Orchestra at the Taipei Theater in New York City. Mr. Hsin had been a guest conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan and the Taipei Symphony Orchestra, and has led Taipei New Arts Chamber Orchestra, OK Mozart Festival Orchestra, Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, Roanoke Symphony Orchestra and New Amsterdam Symphony in performances which featured him as both conductor and violin soloist. Mr. Hsin enjoys very much working with young people, besides the orchestras already mentioned, has also worked with student orchestras from music schools such as Stony Brook, Mannes, Aspen Festival and Monteux Festival, and took the National Taipei University of Arts Orchestra on a tour of Japan. For four summers, he was on the faculty of the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra Camp where he coached the students on orchestra playing.

After winning a first violin position at the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York in 1994, Mr. Hsin has performed well over a hundred operas with some of the best singers and conductors of the world. He has also maintained active side careers as both violin soloist and conductor on top of his already very busy schedule at the Met. As his hand injury is almost completely healed, Mr. Hsin has gradually shifted his focus back towards solo violin playing. These past few seasons he has performed the concertos of Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Barber, Glazunov, Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, Beethoven, Sibelius, Mozart and Schumann with orchestras around the Northeast region. Mr. Hsin also collaborates with his pianist sister Hsing-Chwen Hsin in recitals throughout Taiwan, where they are also embarked on a series of recording projects as a duo team. Mr. Hsin is an avid chamber musician and performs with his colleagues from the Met a regular series of concerts in the New York. He is also on the violin faculty at the Talis chamber music festival and academy in Switzerland.

Last year, after 24 years of service, Mr. Hsin retired from the Met. He now has more freedom to pursue other interests and work, and has more time to be with his thirteen year old son Thomas and eleven year old daughter Olivia. His wife Wen Qian, also a first violinist at the Met, continues to work there.