Elim Chan
One of the most sought-after artists of her generation, Elim Chan performs an unusually wide-ranging repertory of symphonic works extending from the Classical period to the present day. The Sunday Times describes Elim Chan as “a rare example of a young conductor at once brilliant and not in the least showing off.” In January 2022, the Boston Classical Review spoke of a “marvel of control and understanding” following Elim Chan’s debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra: “…Chan was the night’s revelation. As a conductor, she’s the embodiment of the principle that less is more. Like Fritz Reiner or Bernard Haitink, she’s not overly demonstrative on the podium. But her beat is clear, gestures economical, and cues precise. Also, she has an exceptionally sensitive ear.“
Elim Chan has been appointed Chief Conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra with the beginning of the 2019-20 season. Highlights of the orchestra’s 2022-23 season see Elim Chan conduct the orchestra in Mahler’s Symphonie No. 1 and Brahms’ “A German Requiem” as well as on tour in Spain.
Elim Chan is one of Musikverein Wien’s 2022-23 Portrait Artists, collaborating with the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra as well as the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen at the Goldener Saal throughout the season. Other highlights of the 2022-23 season include her debuts with the Pittsburgh and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras, appearances with orchestras in Toronto, Cincinnati and Atlanta and her return to the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In Europe she will be expanding her field of activities with her debut with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and concerts with the Oslo Philharmonic, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester of Berlin.
A native of Hong Kong, Elim Chan studied at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, and at the University of Michigan. In 2014 she was the first female winner of the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition, enabling her to spend the 2015-16 season as assistant conductor at the London Symphony Orchestra, where she worked closely with Valery Gergiev. For the following season Elim Chan joined the Dudamel Fellowship program of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She also owes much to the support and encouragement of Bernard Haitink, whose masterclasses she attended in Lucerne in 2015. In recent seasons, Elim Chan celebrated debuts amongst others with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and London’s Philharmonia Orchestra.