San Francisco Classical Voice“Chen is diminutive but powerful, with an exacting style of conducting that commands attention”
Bachtrack“Sometimes being a guest conductor can ignite a fire in an orchestra and there was no doubt that Ms. Chen lit one here; she infused a new energy into the orchestra’s performance. … The Allegretto [of Mozart’s Piano Concerto no. 24 in C minor] was bold; Chen and Lang were in lockstep in extracting the beauty, creativity and energy of the finale.”
San Francisco Chronicle“Chen led a superbly taut and propulsive account of the Beethoven piece. The scherzo, taken at breakneck speed without missing a step, proved especially impressive, but the entire symphony was done with a high level of drama.”
Sydsvenskan“The performance indeed offered a captivating and inspired interpretation.”
Helsingborgs Dagblad (translated)“But above all, the conductor Mei-Ann Chen should have all the honor of the overwhelming impression “Terra nostra” made. Along with a slightly reduced, yet sounding HSO, she took the audience by storm. It was a very long time since such a newly written work in this format was received with such great enthusiasm.”
Bold, passionate and innovative, Taiwanese American conductor Mei-Ann Chen is renowned as one of the most versatile and dynamic conductors on the podium today, praised for the energy and enthusiasm with which she infuses orchestras and performances. Music Director of the MacArthur Award-winning Chicago Sinfonietta since 2011, her contract has been unanimously extended through the end of the 2028-2029 season. Named Artistic Advisor of Springfield Symphony Orchestra (MA) in March 2024, Chen has been Chief Conductor of Austria’s Recreation – Grosses Orchester Graz at Styriarte since fall 2021, following two seasons as the orchestra’s first-ever Principal Guest Conductor, making her the first female Asian conductor to hold this position with an Austrian orchestra. She has served as the first-ever Artistic Partner of Houston’s ROCO since 2019, and since 2022, as an Artistic Partner with Northwest Sinfonietta (WA). Highly regarded as a compelling communicator and a creative leader both on and off the podium, and a sought-after guest conductor, she has appeared with distinguished orchestras throughout the Americas, Europe, Taiwan, The United Kingdom, and Scandinavia, and continues to expand her relationships with orchestras worldwide (over 150 orchestras to date).
Highlights of Mei-Ann Chen’s 2024 -25 season include world premieres, return engagements, and a five-city tour of The Netherlands. The fall begins with season opening concerts with three orchestras: Chicago Sinfonietta, ROCO (TX) (which features three commissioned world premieres by John Wineglass, Composer in Residence Viet Cong, and Mark Buller, along with a Rescore by Jim Stephenson of Gustav Holst’s The Planets) and Springfield Symphony Orchestra (MA), in her first concerts as Artistic Director. Maestra Chen returns to Manhattan School of Music, and to American Composers Orchestra @ Carnegie Hall, in a program featuring three ACO commissions by Kebra-Seyoun Charles (world premiere), Curtis Stewart, and Paul Novak (world premiere). She also guests with the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra (ESSO). In January 2025 Chen makes her debut with Philharmonie Zuidnederland in a five-city New Year’s Concert Tour in the Netherlands. Also of note are two Chicago Sinfonietta concerts: with the celebrated duo Flutronix – she leads live performances of the Sinfonietta’s upcoming collaborative recording, Black Being, the eponymous title of the concert-length work composed and performed with the duo. Chen also conducts Chicago Sinfonietta in a unique, one-night-only multimedia program to mark the Sesquicentenary of the iconic American composer Charles Ives, curated by renowned cultural historian Joseph Horowitz and preeminent Ives scholar J. Peter Burkholder.
Recent performances include Chen’s seventh return to San Francisco Symphony, debuts with Taiwan’s One Song Orchestras (televised New Year’s concert), The Orchestre National de France (Paris debut), Norway’s Stavanger Symphony, Sweden’s Uppsala Chamber Orchestra, and Denmark’s Odense Symphony abroad, and national debuts with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, San Francisco Conservatory, Indiana University, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the 2023 Ravinia Festival, as well as a return to the Tucson Symphony. In spring of 2024, Chen led the Chicago Sinfonietta’s March tour to Atlanta, the first under her tenure. In summer 2024 she served as a Jury Member for the 2024 MALKO Competition hosted by the Danish National Symphony, led ROCO’s EarShot showcase with the American Composers Orchestra during the League Of American Orchestra’s National Conference in Houston, Texas, and made her debut at The University of Maryland’s National Orchestral Institute (where she served as a faculty member for the Conducting Academy alongside Music Director Marin Alsop).
Past engagements include a return to Vienna’s Tonkunstler Orchestra at the Grafenegg Festival, conducting Beethoven’s Eroica in a theatrical project in Graz at the STYRIARTE Summer Festival (which was broadcast on both TV & Radio on Austrian’s well-known ORF “Klangwolke Werk” program), serving as the Alumni Speaker for the 152nd Commencement ceremony at her alma mater, New England Conservatory, and her Spoleto Festival USA debut. Other highlights include an impressive Minnesota Orchestra debut, stepping in last minute for Maestra Marin Alsop to conduct the popular New Year’s Eve concerts, international debuts with Germany’s Staatsorchester Darmstadt and Liechtenstein Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra National du Capitole de Toulouse (France debut), Spain’s Basque National Orchestra, and Finland’s Helsinki Philharmonic in Finland. In North America, she debuted with American Composers orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Rochester and Buffalo philharmonics, and returned to Cincinnati and Pacific Symphonies, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Canada’s Calgary Philharmonic, Norwegian Radio and Sweden’s Norrlandsoperan.
Other international guest credits include symphony orchestras of England’s BBC in London, Brazil’s São Paulo (OSESP), Denmark’s National, Aalborg, Aarhus, Odense and Copenhagen Philharmonic, Finland’s Tampere Philharmonic, Germany’s Badische Staatskapelle Karlsruhe, Musikalische Academie des Nationaltheater-Orchestesters Mannheim, and NDR Radiophilharmonie Hanover, Mexico’s National, Norway’s Oslo Philharmonic and Trondheim, Netherlands Philharmonic at the Concertgebouw and Residentie in The Hague, Sweden’s Malmö, Gothenburg, Norrköping, Gävle, and Helsingborg, Switzerland’s Basel and Lucerne, Taiwan Philharmonic, National Taiwan, and Kaohsiung City at WeiWuYing (the world’s largest performing arts center since 2018 in Ms. Chen’s hometown), Scotland’s BBC Scottish, and Turkey’s Bilkent in Ankara. Other North American guesting credits include appearances with major symphonies of Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit, Fort Worth, Houston, Indianapolis, National, Oregon, San Diego, Seattle, Toronto, and Vancouver, to name a few.
As Music Director of Chicago Sinfonietta, Ms. Chen has made two recordings for Cedille Records: “Delights and Dances” (June 2013) and “Project W – Works by Diverse Women Composers” (released March 2019 by GRAMMY® nominated producer, Jim Ginsburg), featuring world premiere recordings for works by Florence Price, Clarice Assad, Jessie Montgomery, and Reena Esmail. In 2018, Innova Records released ROCO’s debut album “ROCO: Visions Take Flight” (produced by GRAMMY® Award producer, Blanton Alspaugh) featuring five commissioned contemporary works by Karim Al-Zand, Reena Esmail, Derek Bermel, Anthony DiLorenzo, and Marcus Karl Maroney. Invited by Marin Alsop, Ms. Chen recorded Miachel Daugherty’s Time Machine for Three Conductors with UK’s Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra on Naxos Records label in 2011. This 2024-25 season, with Chicago Sinfonietta, she records and releases Black Being with Flutronix for Cedille.
A passionate advocate for music education, Ms. Chen dedicates significant time in mentoring young conductors through Chicago Sinfonietta Freeman Conducting Fellowship program since 2014 (helping to launch professional careers for more than a dozen young conductors), has been a mentor for the Taki Alsop Fellowship since 2022, and conducts ensembles at important educational institutions, such as Carnegie’s esteemed NYO2 for young musicians (age 14-17), New England Conservatory (her alma mater), The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, University of Southern California. She also serves at various training programs, including the New World Symphony in Miami, Texas Music Festival, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Ung Filharmoni in Norway, Austria’s STYRIARTE Festival Youth Orchestra and SoundFlix Youth Orchestra project in Graz, and the newly created National Youth Symphony Orchestra hosted by the Taiwan Philharmonic in 2024 after leading Youth Orchestra Camp as Artistic Director of National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra Summer Festival (2016-2021). Chen also served as Music Director of the renowned Portland Youth Philharmonic in Oregon (2002-2007).
Past honors include being named one of 2015 Top 30 Influencers by Musical America, the 2012 Helen M. Thompson Award from the League of American Orchestras, the 2007 Taki Concordia Fellowship founded by Marin Alsop, and 2005 First Prize Winner of the Malko Competition (she remains as the only woman in the competition history since 1965 to have won First Prize). Ms. Chen is Conductor Laureate of the Memphis Symphony after serving as Music Director (2010-2016). Born in Taiwan, Ms. Chen came to the United States to study violin in 1989 at Walnut Hill High School for the Arts, received a violin performance undergraduate degree from New England Conservatory before becoming the first student in New England Conservatory’s history to be awarded double master’s degrees simultaneously in both violin and conducting, and earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from University of Michigan.
SEPTEMBER 2024
