A sought-after young conductor who is already widely admired for her unique combination of “drama and tenderness, power and delicacy” (Hereford Times), Elim Chan became the first female winner of the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition and was appointed Chief Conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra from season 2019–20. In addition, she also has been Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra since 2018–19.
Her 2022–23 season began with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, followed by season-opening concerts with the Antwerp Symphony and Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Upcoming appearances include, in North America, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Toronto Symphony Orchestra, as well as several engagements with leading orchestras of Europe and a European tour with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra.
Her 2021–22 season began with an appearance at the Edinburgh International Festival, followed by debuts with the Sinfonieorchester Basel and the Boston and St. Louis symphony orchestras, European Union Youth Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Orchestre National de Lyon and Junge Deutsche Philharmonie. Return engagements to orchestras with whom she is closely connected included, among others, the Philharmonia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gürzenich Orchester Cologne.
Other recent highlights include engagements with Orchestre National de Lille, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Gothenburg Symphony, Netherlands Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
Elim Chan became Assistant Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra in 2015–16 and was appointed to the Dudamel Fellowship program with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the following season. Previously she led the Orchestre de la Francophonie as part of the NAC Summer Music Institute in 2012, where she worked with Pinchas Zukerman and participated in the Musical Olympus Festival in St. Petersburg as well as in workshops with the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (with Marin Alsop, Gerard Schwarz and Gustav Meier). She also took part in masterclasses with Bernard Haitink in Lucerne in spring 2015.
Elim Chan holds degrees from Smith College and the University of Michigan. While there, she served as Music Director of the University of Michigan Campus Symphony Orchestra and the Michigan Pops Orchestra. She also received the Bruno Walter Conducting Scholarship in 2013.
Photo Credit: Rahi Rezvani