About
“If I have the courage to pursue what I love, then so do you”.
– Elim
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 was principal conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra from 2019 to 2024 and principal guest conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra from 2018 to 2023.
Having made her highly acclaimed debut with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the 2023 BBC Proms, Elim Chan conducted the orchestra again at the First Night of the Proms 2024. The summer 2024 also saw Elim Chan reunited with the Los Angeles Philharmonic opening the classical summer season at the Hollywood Bowl, with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra at the Edinburgh International Festival as well as making her debut with the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg opening the Salzburg Festival as well as with the Kammerakademie Potsdam opening the 2024 Beethovenfest Bonn.
Highlights of the 2024-25 season include touring projects with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra as well as with the orchestra’s MCO Academy, Elim Chan’s highly anticipated return to the Hong Kong Philharmonic both in a subscription week as well as for the orchestra’s “Symphony under the Stars” and her debut in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Other debuts in the season include engagements with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester.
In the 2024-25 season Elim Chan guest conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orkest, the Oslo Philharmonic and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, ORF Radio- Symphonieorchester and the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin as well as the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Utah Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the San Francisco Symphony.
In spring 2023, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León announced a three-year collaboration with Elim Chan as Associate Conductor, focusing on Stravinsky’s ballets.
Recent engagements included collaborations with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Philharmonia Orchestra, with the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Staatskapelle Dresden as well as the Orchestre de Paris.
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.