Mei-Ann Chen: Finding a Voice on the Podium

 

 

Mei-Ann Chen: Finding a Voice on the Podium

From postwar Taiwan to the American orchestral landscape, a conductor’s path shaped by history, responsibility, and musical conviction

 William Ford interviews Mei-Ann Chen, an internationally renowned conductor known for her energetic podium presence, adventurous programming, and commitment to expanding the symphonic repertoire. She has appeared with orchestras across North America, Europe, and Asia, working with ensembles of widely varying traditions and institutional cultures.

She is Music Director of the Chicago Sinfonietta, where she has been a central artistic force, shaping programs that combine core repertoire with contemporary and underrepresented voices. Her work there has emphasized both musical excellence and audience engagement, positioning the orchestra as a model for mission-driven symphonic leadership.

 She also serves the equivalent position in Austria, as Chief Conductor of Recreation - Grosses Orchester Graz at Styriarte (the first female Asian conductor to hold this position with an Austrian orchestra), and is the first-ever Artistic Partner of Houston’s ROCO, and Artistic Partner with Northwest Sinfonietta (WA).

 In addition to her work in Chicago, Chen maintains an active international guest-conducting career and is regularly invited to lead major orchestras and festivals. She is also deeply involved in musical training and mentorship, working with Carnegie's esteemed NYO2 for young musicians (age 14-17), New England Conservatory (her alma mater), and Manhattan School of Music, among others,  where she works closely with the next generation of conductors and orchestral musicians.

Chen’s career reflects a balance between interpretive rigor, institutional leadership, and a forward-looking view of the orchestral field, grounded in a belief that symphonic music remains a vital and evolving art form.

Interview with Mei-Ann Chen

Reconstructed Q&A for clarity and flow

 WF: Where are you based right now?

 MAC: Chicago is my home base, though I’m on the road most of the year. I work regularly with about six orchestras and guest conduct with roughly twenty to twenty-five ensembles annually, so I’m constantly moving. But Chicago is where I reset.

 WF: Talk about the town you grew up in, Kaohsiung.

 MAC: Kaohsiung is in southern Taiwan. I grew up there, and in recent years the city transformed an abandoned military base into a major arts complex with four venues. It’s called Wei-Wu-Ying, and it’s now one of the most significant performing arts centers in Asia. Seeing it completed has been deeply meaningful for me.

 WF: Let’s go back to your early years. What was your musical environment growing up?

 MAC: My parents were educators, not professional musicians. They grew up during and immediately after the Japanese occupation, at a time when daily life involved real privation and uncertainty. For their generation, stability and education were not abstractions but necessities that had to be fought for and protected.

 Formal Western music education in Taiwan only really began shortly before my generation, and I was among the first students to go through that system. My parents loved music—my father would whistle melodies constantly, and my mother loved to sing, especially in church—but more than that, they believed deeply in education as a way forward. They invested heavily in my sister’s and my musical education, even when resources were limited, because they saw it as part of building a more secure future.

WF: How did you come to music yourself?

MAC: My sister began violin lessons, and I was meant to accompany her on piano. She ultimately became a visual artist and didn’t enjoy performing, so I continued with both piano and violin. I began piano at seven, violin a bit later. When I joined an orchestra at age ten, something changed. Watching the conductor communicate entirely through body language made a profound impression on me. I realized I wanted to “play the largest instrument in the room.”

WF: Conducting wasn’t an obvious path at that point, though.

MAC: Not at all. There were no conducting teachers in Taiwan then, and my parents were worried. But I was determined. I memorized my violin parts so I could watch the conductor constantly. In retrospect, that was my first conducting training.

 WF: Pursuing conducting meant stepping away from a path your parents initially imagined for you. How did you experience that tension?

 MAC: That was very difficult. My parents had lived through enormous historical and social upheaval, and stability mattered deeply to them. Becoming a violinist felt concrete and respectable in a way that conducting did not, especially at that time in Taiwan. Conducting wasn’t something they could easily picture as a real profession.

 I felt a strong sense of responsibility to honor their sacrifices. Coming to the United States on a violin scholarship was part of that. I wasn’t rebelling against my parents so much as trying to reconcile gratitude with necessity. At the same time, I knew that if I didn’t follow the pull toward conducting, I would always feel that I had abandoned something essential. Over time, I think they came to understand that conducting wasn’t a rejection of their hopes, but an extension of the values they gave me—discipline, service, and commitment.

 WF: When did the idea of studying abroad emerge?

 MAC: When I was sixteen, a youth orchestra affiliated with the New England Conservatory toured Taiwan. I was invited to play for Benjamin Zander the next morning. After hearing me play, he urged me to come to the United States and helped a secure scholarship at the Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Massachusetts. That move was a major turning point. It was my first sustained experience of musical life outside Taiwan.

 WF: How did your formal conducting training develop?

 MAC: I went on to study at the New England Conservatory, where I pursued both violin and conducting. I earned my bachelor’s degree in violin performance, followed by a master’s degree in violin. At the same time, I completed a separate master’s degree in orchestral conducting. Those years were demanding, but they allowed me to develop as both an instrumentalist and a conductor within the same musical environment.

At NEC I studied with Frank Battisti, who emphasized practical musicianship. He asked me to organize ensembles for class, which meant recruiting players and working directly with winds, brass, and percussion. I learned orchestral repertoire from the ground up—what it takes for sound to happen before the first note. That grounding in how sound is physically and socially produced has stayed with me throughout my career.

 WF: You later completed a doctorate in conducting.

 MAC: Yes. After my early professional work had begun to take shape, I earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting at the University of Michigan. That period gave me the space to consolidate my training, reflect on leadership, and deepen my relationship with the repertoire.

 WF: Choir also played a role for you.

 MAC: Yes. When I ended up pursing academic fields instead of being a music major during middle school in Taiwan, choir became an interesting entry point for me as a conductor. I stepped in as an assistant conductor, led choirs for competitions, and conducted when teachers were absent. That period was important because music stopped being about fulfilling my parents’ expectations and became my own expressive necessity.

WF: How did your career begin to take shape professionally?

 MAC:  After earning dual master’s degrees in violin and conducting, the transition into a professional career was difficult. Immigration rules tightened after 9/11, and I was advised that, as a young conductor even with a full-time position with the oldest youth orchestra in the country, winning a major international competition would be essential if I wanted to remain in the United States and continue working.

 I was invited to participate in the Malko Competition with the hope of getting one of the six prizes given. To my surprise, I broke the Competition record by becoming the first woman to win First Prize — it marked a decisive turning point. It opened doors across Europe and made a professional conducting career viable.

 WF: Atlanta was an important chapter for you.

 MAC: Yes. I auditioned for the Atlanta Symphony, and the Music Director then, Robert Spano told me, “America needs your kind of conductor.” The musicians there helped launch my career in a meaningful way. That support made a lasting impression and shaped my understanding of leadership and collaboration. I also knew Amy Schwartz Moretti during her time in Oregon, and I am very grateful she was my first contact with the invitation to conduct in Macon on February 23, 2026.