Here we take a look at the young, Hong Kong-born conductor Elim Chan, who conducts the 2024 First Night of the Proms.
Who is Elim Chan?
Hong Kong-born conductor Elim Chan made history when, in December 2014 at the age of 28, she became the first woman to win the prestigious Donatella Flick Conducting Competition. That was Chan's entry into the top tier of classical conducting, and she promptly conducted a number of the world’s great orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra and the Mariinsky, before turning 30.
She's currently chief conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra - where she again made history, becoming both its first female conductor and youngest ever chief conductor. She stands down as Antwerp's chief conductor at the close of the 2023-2024 season. Let's see where Chan's stellar career takes her next...
How old is Elim Chan?
Chan was born on 18 November 1986, so will be 37 when she conducts the 2024 First Night of the Proms.
Where is Elim Chan from?
Elim Chan was born and raised in Hong Kong. She later went to study at Smith College in Massachusetts, USA. She began her studies there in medicine, but after an experience with conducting, she changed to music, graduating in 2009.
Is Elim Chan married?
Yes - to the Dutch percussionist Dominique Vleeshouwers.
What will she be conducting at the 2024 First Night of the Proms?
The programme for the 2024 First Night of the Proms features:
- Handel, arr. Mackerras Music for the Royal Fireworks: Overture
- Bruckner Psalm 150
- Clara Schumann Piano Concerto
- Ben Nobuto Hallelujah Sim. (BBC commission: world premiere)
- Beethoven Symphony No. 5 in C minor
Chan conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra, who regularly perform the First Night and Last Night of the Proms. They will also be joined by the BBC Singers and BBC Symphony Chorus, plus soprano Sophie Bevan and pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason.
What do we know about her musical tastes?
In January 2023, we interviewed Elim Chan for BBC Music Magazine. She reflected on five pieces of music that have had a profound effect on her.
Elgar: Enigma Variations
London Symphony Orchestra/Colin Davis
LSO Live LSO0109
'I’ve just had a wonderful experience conducting Elgar’s Enigma Variations with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra at the Musikverein, so it’s on my mind, now and always. Every time I hear this recording by the LSO and Sir Colin Davis, one of the great interpretations of the Elgar, it takes me back to 2014 when I won the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition, the moment my career was launched, and I am thankful for what happened.
'You can almost hear Sir Colin breathing and humming along; he is there in the music. I really wish I could have met him – LSO managing director Kathryn McDowell said she thinks he would have liked me! The piece itself is all about storytelling and, being a self-taught composer, Elgar drew inspiration from everything around him including his home and his friends. I think it's very important, as a musician and a conductor, to tell stories.'
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2
Sviatoslav Richter (piano); Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra/Stanislaw Wislocki
Deutsche Grammophon 447 4202
'I started playing the piano at the age of six. Then, as a teenager, one of the first CDs I bought with my pocket money was Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 played by Sviatoslav Richter.
- We named Sviatoslav Richter one of the greatest pianists of all time
'The classical section of HMV in Hong Kong was like a candy store for me! When I listened to the Rachmaninov I felt like a thunderbolt or an earthquake had happened in my being. The power, the beauty and the drama was all there in Richter’s supreme interpretation. Now I conduct a lot of Russian composers. I can look back and think it all came from the time when I felt that power.'
- Top ten Russian composers
Beethoven: Egmont overture
New York Philharmonic Orchestra/Bruno Walter
Sony G010004059776U
'I got to know Beethoven’s Egmont overture in about 2006 when I was studying at Smith College in the US. I was a psychology student at the time but I played the cello and piano and had always belonged to a choir. The conductor of the choir and orchestra made me his assistant. The college library had an amazing collection of recordings and books and I’d finish my lab reports and immerse myself in scores. I found a VHS tape of The Great Conductors and I watched Bruno Walter conducting the Egmont overture.
'I was enraptured. In truth, I wanted to be Walter, to become the music. I told my conductor, ‘I know what I want to conduct, if you give me the chance’, and he did! In the final round of the Flick competition I conducted it with the LSO. Before they announced the results, I was backstage with Prince Charles, who was presenting the prizes.
'He told me that he really liked my Beethoven interpretation, which was a very special moment for me. The piece has stayed close to my heart. I will be conducting it again for my debut with the Bayerischer Rundfunk.'
Bruckner: Symphony No. 6
Dresden Staatskapelle/Bernard Haitink
Profil Medien PH07011
'I took part in Bernard Haitink’s conducting masterclass in 2015 in Lucerne and we all had to prepare the first movement of Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony. For the final public concert, I was the last to perform. Just before I went on he whispered ‘You’re conducting the second movement instead’.
'I was so upset in that moment but the orchestra looked at me encouragingly as if to say, ‘we’ll help you out’. Afterwards, Bernard came up to me and said, ‘Elim, when you conduct, you make me listen’. That was so wonderful to hear. I worked with him in London, and every time I hear this record, I remember his presence. It brings me back to that moment when he gave me the space and the confidence to grow because he saw something in me.
Bill Evans
Sunday at the Village Vanguard
Riverside Records 72305
'Pianist Bill Evans is a total genius in a different way. He reminds me that there’s a liberation in music that we classical musicians sometimes miss and I love the free spirit of jazz.
- We named Bill Evans one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time
I had hardly listened to jazz before a friend played Sunday at the Village Vanguard for me. I was blown away by the freedom, and the wonderful sound of the audience clapping. It reminds you of why you do this and for whom you are doing it.