Elim Chan
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Key Information
| Elim Chan | |||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 陳以琳 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 陈以琳 | ||||||||
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Elim Chan (Chinese: 陳以琳; b. November 18, 1986) is a Hong Kong-born conductor. In 2025 she was the conductor at the Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. In May 2026, Chan was named the 13th Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony.
Biography
[edit]Chan was born in Hong Kong.[1] In her youth, she played cello and piano and sang in choirs.[2][3] Chan attended the Good Hope School (Form One) and was a sixth-form student at Li Po Chun United World College in Hong Kong.
Chan studied at Smith College in the United States, initially intending to become a medical doctor. Following an initial experience in conducting during her second year of college,[4] she changed her program of study and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music in 2009.[5] Chan pushed graduate studies in music at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where her teachers included Kenneth Kiesler. She was music director of the University of Michigan Campus Symphony Orchestra and of the Michigan Pops Orchestra in 2012/13. She earned her master's degree in orchestra conducting from Michigan in 2011 and her Doctor of Musical Arts in 2015.[2]
In December 2014, at age 28, Chan won the Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition, the first female conductor to win the competition.[1][6][7][8] As the competition winner, she was named assistant conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra with a one-year contract for 2015/16.[1] the orchestra’s principal conductor, Valery Gergiev, invited her to participate in a tour of Mexico with the Mariinsky Orchestra. She has also participated in master classes in conducting with Bernard Haitink.[4]
In April 2016, NorrlandsOperan announced Chan's appointment as its next chief conductor, effective in 2017, with an initial contract of three years.[9] In April 2018, Chan announced that she planned to stand down as chief conductor of NorrlandsOperan after one season.[10]
In January 2017, she made her first guest-conducting appearance with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO). She returned as guest conductor with the RSNO a fortnight later as an emergency substitute for Neeme Järvi.[11] In June 2017, the RSNO appointed Chan as its next principal guest conductor, effective 2018.[12] Chan concluded her tenure as principal guest conductor of the RSNO in March 2023.[13]
Chan guest-conducted the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra for the first time in November 2017. She returned as guest conductor in Antwerp in March 2018. In May 2018, the orchestra announced her appointment as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2019/20 season.[14] Chan is both the first female conductor and the youngest conductor named chief conductor of the orchestra. She concluded her tenure as chief conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra at the close of the 2023–2024 season, one season earlier than her previously announced contract extension.[15] In 2022 she made her debuts conducting the Boston Symphony[16] and the Cleveland Orchestra.[17] She debuted with the New York Philharmonic in 2024.[4]
On September 13, 2025, Chan was the conductor at the Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. She conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra, soprano Louise Alder and trumpeter Alison Balsom and presented the traditional favourites.[18]
On May 21, 2026, Chan was named the 13th Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony for a six-year term beginning in the 2027/28 season.[19][20] She is the first woman to be appointed as director of one of the "Big 7" U.S. symphony orchestras.[20]
Private life
[edit]Chan is married to the Dutch percussionist Dominique Vleeshouwers.[21] The couple reside in Amsterdam.[22] Since the 2015/16 season she has used boxing for exercise, both to help maintain mental clarity and to avoid the arm and back problems associated with conducting.[4][22]
Chan has held UK citizenship since at least 2014.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Chou, Oliver (January 2, 2015). "Conductor Elim Chan achieves dream of working with Ferrari orchestra". South China Morning Post. Retrieved January 12, 2019. Birth year of 1986 is based on age 28 in Dec 2014.
- ^ a b Madhani, Tanya (January 6, 2015). "Rackham student wins elite music competition". Michigan Daily. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
- ^ Deller, Toby (May 4, 2016). "Meet the Maestro: Elim Chan". Classical Music. Archived from the original on April 6, 2022. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
- ^ a b c d Hernández, Javier C. (March 5, 2024). "She Boxes. She Conducts. She Delights in Defying Stereotypes". New York Times. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
- ^ Peterson, Erin (March 16, 2017). "'Something Changed in Me'". Smith College Alumnae News. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
- ^ Tilden, Imogen (December 9, 2014). "Elim Chan wins 2014 Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition". The Guardian. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
- ^ White, Michael (December 10, 2014). "In a Battle of the Batons, a Barely Visible Alchemy: Elim Chan's Flick Conducting Prize Is Rare Win for a Woman". New York Times. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
- ^ a b "U-M student wins 2014 Donatella Flick LSO conducting competition" (Press release). University of Michigan. December 16, 2014. Archived from the original on June 22, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
- ^ "NorrlandsOperan appoints Elim Chan as chief conductor" (Press release). NorrlandsOperan. April 13, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
- ^ "Norrlandsoperans chefsdirigent slutar". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). April 6, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
- ^ Nickalls, Susan (February 21, 2017). "Music review: The RSNO & Elim Chan". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on March 9, 2017. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
- ^ "RSNO Principal Guest Conductor appointment" (Press release). Royal Scottish National Orchestra. June 20, 2017. Archived from the original on February 10, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
- ^ "RSNO bid farewell to Principal Guest Conductor Elim Chan" (Press release). Royal Scottish National Orchestra. March 10, 2023. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
- ^ "Antwerp Symphony Orchestra stelt Elim Chan aan als chef-dirigent" (Press release) (in Dutch). Antwerp Symphony Orchestra. May 17, 2018. Archived from the original on May 17, 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
- ^ "Chef-dirigent Elim Chan zwaait af bij Antwerp Symphony Orchestra". NPO Radio 4 (in Dutch). June 19, 2023. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
- ^ Gantz, Jeffrey (January 21, 2022). "Debuts Light Up Symphony Hall". Boston Musical Intelligencer. Retrieved May 22, 2026.
- ^ "Blossom Music Festival 2022" (PDF). Cleveland Orchestra. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 10, 2025. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
- ^ "BBC Proms: Last Night of the Proms 2025". Royal Albert Hall. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
- ^ "Elim Chan Named Next Music Director of SF Symphony". San Francisco Symphony. May 21, 2026. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
- ^ a b Meline, Gabe (May 21, 2026). "San Francisco Symphony Appoints Elim Chan as Music Director". KQED Inc. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
- ^ "Slagwerker Dominique Vleeshouwers is een virtuoos, bewees hij in Utrecht". De Volkskrant. January 19, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
- ^ a b Connolly, Kate (July 4, 2024). "Proms star Elim Chan: 'Being who you are is powerful. Not all orchestras can take it'". The Guardian. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
External links
[edit]- Official homepage of Elim Chan
- Classic Concerts Management agency German-language page on Elim Chan
- Classic Concerts Management agency English-language page on Elim Chan
- Davis United World College Scholars Program, page on Elim Chan Archived September 14, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
- Shadrach Kabango, Elim Chan on how conductors conjure musical magic. Q, CBC Radio, 22 December 2014
- Yip's Children's Choral & Performing Arts Centre, Oliver Chou, 'Hong Kong conductor Elim Chan urges city to nurture musical talent'. 1 January 2015
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