About Me

Hi, I'm Tristine Yin, singer-songwriter, also a dancer/choreographer as shown above.

I was born in a country called Taiwan, which is a small island off the coast of China, and my birth name is CHIENHWE HONG. I also chose an American name as a small child to fit in when my family immigrated to the United States, so some of you have known me as CAROL HONG, or my favorite, MISS CAROL, the dance teacher.

I chose this picture to feature as my ABOUT ME photo because it was taken from a performance where I was invited to perform as "Arya Tara," or, in my cultural tradition, we call her "KUAN YIN." She's the Asian mother Mary, if you will, and someone I have leaned on spiritually all my life.

This picture and performance is particularly meaningful not just because I loved being able to embody Kuan Yin, but also because little did I know, it would serve as a prophetic omen as to my future --- calling myself Tristine Yin as an artist is a way of inviting my higher self to lead the way, to call the shots in my life, and lo and behold, after a 3.5 year long injury and sabbatical away from dancing, I GOT REALLY, REALLY SERIOUS about making and sharing music. I did it not just for me, but because I know the power of music because I've experienced it. The power in how one song can unite people around the world in utter joy or bliss or ecstasy even.

During my unfortunate recovery process, I had a lot of time to think since I was partially disabled, and during my negotiations with the almighty, I was reminded and reunited of my original love - music. Even though I started playing the piano before I was 4 years old, I decided to focus on dance as long as my body would allow me to, and went on to fulfill some of my wildest dreams like performing with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at their City Center Season for 3 years, and making it to the top 100 of So You Think You Can Dance, as well as starting my own project based dance troupe called 1000 VIRTUES DANCE (the literal translation of my birth name) as the director/choreographer while teaching kids and adults my love for dance. I also curated a performance party platform called SOUL SESSIONS where local performing artists of all walks and genres would unite in performance and celebration and most importantly, DANCE PARTIES.

Ultimately, my biggest secret is that I have been writing music for ages, since I was 10 years old, but I always chose dance a means to both express myself and distract myself from actually using my voice. In retrospect, I can finally say with certainty that the injury was turned into a blessing because it gave me the time to deal with how I was really feeling and to do what I really want to do, which is to use my love for dance to INSPIRE PEOPLE TO DANCE and to use my love of music to INSPIRE PEOPLE TO FEEL THE SPECTRUM of human emotions.

I hope you enjoy the music.