Around the Music Festival

Antwerp Symphony Orchestra of Belgium announced on 17th that it will welcome Hong Kong-born female conductor Elim Chan as music director from the 2019/2020 season. Succeeds from Edo de Waart (2011-). The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra was an orchestra once used as a Royal Flemish Philharmonic and was renamed to current name in April 2017. Founded in 1937, the past chief conductor is André Vandernoot, Philippe Herreweghe, Jaap van Zweden.

Chan was born in Hong Kong in 1986. From an early age she studied cello, piano, choir, graduated from Hong Kong ‘s “United World College = UWC.” She later studied at a prestigious US Smith College to become a doctor. Following an initial experience in conducting during her second year of college, she changed her path of study and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music. After graduation she has been studying as a conductor at the graduate school of the University of Michigan after graduation.

In 2014, she won the first female conductor in “Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition” hosted by the London Symphony Orchestra. From 2017 she is the principal conductor of Norrlands Operan Symphony Orchestra in Sweden and the chief guest conductor of Royal Scottish National Orchestra in the UK. She has just visited the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra for the first time in November last year.