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Elim Chan (Chinese: 陳以琳; pinyin: Chén Yǐlín; born November 18, 1986) is a Hong Kong-born conductor. She is currently music director-designate of the San Francisco Symphony.[1]

Early life and education

Chan was born in Hong Kong.[2] In her youth, she played cello and piano and sang in choirs.[3][4] Chan attended the Good Hope School (Form One)[5] and was a sixth-form student at Li Po Chun United World College in Hong Kong.[6] In Hong Kong she participated in choral groups and learned to play piano.[7]

Chan studied at Smith College in the United States, initially intending to study psychology and pursue a career in medicine. Following an initial experience in conducting during her second year of college,[8] she changed her program of study and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music in 2009.[9] At Smith she sang in various student choruses, was given opportunities to conduct, and encouraged to pursue conducting.[7] Chan pursued 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.[3]

Career

In December 2014, at age 28, Chan won the Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition, the first female conductor to win the competition.[2][10][11][12] As the competition winner, she was named assistant conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra with a one-year contract for 2015/16.[2] the orchestra’s principal conductor, Valery Gergiev, invited her to participate in a tour of Mexico with the Mariinsky Orchestra. She then spent a year as a Dudamel Fellow at the Los Angeles Philharmonic.[7] She has also participated in master classes in conducting with Bernard Haitink.[8]

In April 2016, NorrlandsOperan announced Chan’s appointment as its next chief conductor, effective in 2017, with an initial contract of three years.[13] In April 2018, Chan announced that she planned to stand down as chief conductor of NorrlandsOperan after one season.[14]

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.[15] In June 2017, the RSNO appointed Chan as its next principal guest conductor, effective 2018.[16] Chan concluded her tenure as principal guest conductor of the RSNO in March 2023.[17]

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.[18] 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.[19]

In the USA, Chan made her guest-conducting debuts with the Boston Symphony[20] and the Cleveland Orchestra.[21] Her first guest-conducting appearance with the San Francisco Symphony was in January 2023.[22] She debuted with the New York Philharmonic in 2024.[8]

Specifically with the San Francisco Symphony, Chan returned for additional guest-conducting appearances in October 2023[23] and in March 2025.[24] In May 2026, the San Francisco Symphony announced the appointment of Chan as its 13th music director, effective with the 2027-2028 season, with an initial contract of six years. She took the title of music director-designate with immediate effect.[25] Chan is the first female conductor to be named music director of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.[1]

Personal life

Chan is married to the Dutch percussionist Dominique Vleeshouwers.[26] The couple reside in Amsterdam.[27] In private life, she is a practitioner of boxing.[8][27] Chan holds UK citizenship.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b Meline, Gabe (May 21, 2026). “San Francisco Symphony Appoints Elim Chan as Music Director”. KQED Inc. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ a b Madhani, Tanya (January 6, 2015). “Rackham student wins elite music competition”. Michigan Daily. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  4. ^ Deller, Toby (May 4, 2016). “Meet the Maestro: Elim Chan”. Classical Music. Archived from the original on April 6, 2022. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  5. ^ Chou, Oliver (January 1, 2015). “Hong Kong conductor Elim Chan urges city to nurture musical talent”. Yip’s Children’s Choral & Performing Arts Centre. Archived from the original on March 9, 2015.
  6. ^ “Elim Chan”. Davis United World College Scholars Program. Archived from the original on September 14, 2016.
  7. ^ a b c Hirsh, Jonathan (April 2, 2024). “Shaping Sound and Time”. Smith Quarterly. Retrieved May 24, 2026.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Peterson, Erin (March 16, 2017). “‘Something Changed in Me’“. Smith College Alumnae News. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  10. ^ Tilden, Imogen (December 9, 2014). “Elim Chan wins 2014 Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition”. The Guardian. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ “NorrlandsOperan appoints Elim Chan as chief conductor” (Press release). NorrlandsOperan. April 13, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  14. ^ “Norrlandsoperans chefsdirigent slutar”. SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). April 6, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ “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.
  17. ^ “RSNO bid farewell to Principal Guest Conductor Elim Chan” (Press release). Royal Scottish National Orchestra. March 10, 2023. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  18. ^ “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.
  19. ^ “Chef-dirigent Elim Chan zwaait af bij Antwerp Symphony Orchestra”. NPO Radio 4 (in Dutch). June 19, 2023. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  20. ^ Madonna, A.Z. (January 21, 2022). “Conductor Elim Chan, pianist Igor Levit offer familiar comforts and new delights at the BSO”. Boston Globe. Retrieved May 24, 2026.
  21. ^ “Blossom Music Festival 2022” (PDF). Cleveland Orchestra. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 10, 2025. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  22. ^ Steven Winn (January 16, 2023). “Elim Chan and SF Symphony Caught Stargazing”. San Francisco Classical Voice. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  23. ^ Steven Winn (October 30, 2023). “The Planets Shines Under Elim Chan’s Direction at SF Symphony”. San Francisco Classical Voice. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  24. ^ Michael Zwiebach (March 15, 2025). “Tchaikovsky Takes Over at SF Symphony”. San Francisco Classical Voice. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  25. ^ “Elim Chan Named Next Music Director of SF Symphony”. San Francisco Symphony. May 21, 2026. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  26. ^ “Slagwerker Dominique Vleeshouwers is een virtuoos, bewees hij in Utrecht”. De Volkskrant. January 19, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  27. ^ 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.