The Jenny Lin Foundation's annual free youth music concert takes place Saturday, July 11 at Chabot College in Hayward — a program that John and Mei-Lian Lin have run for over three decades to honor their daughter, Jennifer, who was killed in Castro Valley in 1994 at age 14.

At 6:30 p.m. this Saturday, the Reed L. Buffington Performing Arts Center at Chabot College — 25555 Hesperian Blvd., Hayward — will fill with the sound of young musicians wrapping up a month of rehearsals, in a free public concert organized by the Jenny Lin Foundation.

The foundation was built around a single specific loss: Jennifer Lin, a 14-year-old Castro Valley resident who was murdered in May 1994, two days after her birthday. Her case remains unsolved. Jennifer played viola and piano and had been accepted to UC Berkeley's academic talent development program. According to KTVU, she was playing music with friends on the day she was killed.

"She enjoyed playing music with friends. And in fact, she was playing music with friends on the day that we lost her," her father, John Lin, told KTVU. "It's just so devastating for any family to have to go through this."

Her parents, John and Mei-Lian Lin, co-founded the Jenny Lin Foundation and have run the Summer Music Program every year since. This year's program ran from June 8 through Saturday, July 11, with rehearsals held at Creekside Middle School in Castro Valley. The concert at Chabot College is the required culminating performance for participants — Bay Area youth musicians in eighth grade and above, who enroll at no cost.

"We feel a big loss of this world not having her here today," Mei-Lian Lin told KTVU. "So we are doing all the work that we believe Jenny would have wanted to do herself."

The program is administered entirely by the foundation; no Hayward city budget allocation for it was identified in the city's FY 2025–26 adopted budget. Faculty directing the 2026 program include Matthew Fell (Symphonic Band), Greg Conway (String Orchestra), and Jason Sarten (Choir), according to Patch.com.

Admission is free. The concert is open to the public.