Elim Chan
conductor
Vita
The conductor Elim Chan, who was born in 1986 in Hong Kong, studied cello and piano from a young age and sang in choirs as a child. Despite this early training, she initially went to the United States to study medicine before deciding to pursue a career in music. She completed her training at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and with Kenneth Kiesler at the University of Michigan. She was awarded the Bruno Walter Conducting Scholarship in 2013, and in 2014 she became the first woman to win the Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition in London — a distinction that led to her appointment as Assistant Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. She subsequently received the Dudamel Fellowship and worked closely with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the 2016-17 season. From 2018 to 2023, Elim Chan served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and from 2019 to 2024 she was Chief Conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra. In September 2027 she will take over as Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony. The Wiener Symphoniker named her as their Artistic Partner for the next two seasons. Elim Chan conducted the First Night at the BBC Proms in 2024 to such acclaim that she was immediately invited back the following year to lead the legendary Last Night. She now ranks among the most sought-after conductors of her generation. In the 2025–26 season, she appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Orchestre de Paris, and the Munich Philharmonic. In the upcoming season, she will make her debuts with the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, among others, and will appear for the first time as an opera conductor in a new production of John Adams’ Doctor Atomic at the Zurich Opera House.
Lucerne Festival debut on 30 August 2016 with the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra in a program of works by Saariaho, Adams, and Bartók; last appearance here was on 17 May 2026 leading the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in music by Bach, Berg, and Brahms.
August 2026
