Mei-Ann Chen

Taiwanese American conductor Mei-Ann Chen is renowned as one of the most versatile, compelling, and dynamic international conductors today. Music Director of the MacArthur Award-winning Chicago Sinfonietta since 2011, her contract has been unanimously extended through the end of the 2028-2029 season. Chief Conductor of Austria’s Recreation – Grosses Orchester Graz at Styriarte (the first female Asian conductor to hold this position with an Austrian orchestra), she is also the Artistic

Advisor of Springfield Symphony Orchestra (MA), the first-ever Artistic Partner of Houston’s ROCO, and Artistic Partner with Northwest Sinfonietta (WA). An acclaimed communicator praised for her energy and enthusiasm, Ms. Chen is a sought-after guest conductor and has appeared with distinguished orchestras throughout the Americas, Europe, The United Kingdom, Scandinavia, and her native Taiwan (over 160 to date), and continues to expand her relationships with orchestras worldwide.

Following summer engagements that included debuts with the Festival Vaduz Classic in Liechtenstein, sold-out programs with South Africa’s Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Brevard Music Center, Ms. Chen’s 2025-2026 season includes debuts with Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (South Korea debut), Austria’s ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, France’s Orchestre Nacional des Pays de la Loire, Madrid Orchestra and Choir (Madrid, Spain debut), Brazil’s Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Macon-Mercer Symphony Orchestra. She returns to Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Franciso Symphony, Sinfonieorchester Liechtenstein, Sweden’s Uppsala Chamber Orchestra, the Netherland’s Residentie Orkest Den Haag, and Taiwan’s National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra for multiple programs during its 80th Anniversary Season.

Recent engagements include a five-city tour of the Netherlands in her debut with Philharmonie Zuidnederland, returns to San Franciso Symphony and the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, and debuts with Denmark’s Odense Symphony, The Orchestre National de France (Paris debut), Norway’s Stavanger Symphony, Taiwan’s One Song Orchestras (televised New Year’s concert), and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia Festival.

In the recording arena Chen has made three recordings with Chicago Sinfonietta for Cedille Records: Delights and Dances, Project W – Works by Diverse Women Composers, and Black Being with Flutronix (released earlier this season). For Innova Records she released ROCO’s debut album ROCO: Visions Take Flight. Ms. Chen recorded Michael Daugherty’s Time Machine for Three Conductors with UK’s Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra on Naxos Records.

A passionate advocate for music education, Maestra Chen is a Visiting Scholar at the National Taiwan Normal University. Since 2014, Chen has dedicated significant time in mentoring young conductors through Chicago Sinfonietta’s Freeman Conducting Fellowship program (helping to launch professional careers for more than a dozen young conductors. She has been a mentor for the Taki Alsop Fellowship since 2022. Having served as a jury member for the Malko Competition, Maestra Chen will serve as a jury member for the Princess Astrid International Music Competition hosted by the Trondheim Symfoniorkester & Opera in August 2026 and for the Solti International Conducting Competition for young conductors held in Budapest this coming fall 2026.

Former posts include Artistic Director of the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra Summer Festival (2016-2022) and Music Director Portland Youth Philharmonic (Oregon, 2002-2007). Ms. Chen is Conductor Laureate of the Memphis Symphony after serving as Music Director (2010-2016). Born in Taiwan, Ms. Chen holds a violin performance undergraduate degree from New England Conservatory and is the first student in the Conservatory’s history to be awarded double master’s degrees simultaneously in violin and conducting. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from University of Michigan.