Connor Chin, 17, is a violinist and violist. He began piano at age 6 under Terrence Rust and Elsun Kim before starting violin at age 8. He has studied violin and viola under David Salness since age 10. At the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College he plays violin in a piano quintet under Zakarias Grafilo of the Alexander Quartet and studies under Joseph Maile of the Telegraph Quartet. He also had the privilege of working with Chi-Yuan Chen, the principal violist of San Diego Symphony. He plays a viola on loan from Young Chamber Musicians, where he was awarded a scholarship to join a string quartet this fall.
Connor began orchestra in 2015 as a violinist with GSYO, rising to co-concertmaster in Sinfonietta orchestra before joining California Youth Symphony. He was a violist in the CYS Senior Orchestra during the 2021-2022 season and 2022 Central Europe tour, then a 1st Violinist from 2022 (touring again as a 1st Violinist in Spain in 2024). Connor has won awards at various competitions for both violin and viola, including the MTNA Competition, USIMC, and USOMC.
Combining his passions for music and STEM, Connor applied audio signal processing and computer vision methods to refine his viola/violin technique, winning awards at two Synopsys Championships for his projects. Connor also hosts the sound-politics.com podcast that explores music’s role in communicating ideas, building shared community, uniting people behind a common cause and motivating action.