Santa Rosa Symphony to welcome conductor candidate Mei-Ann Chen
Conductor Mei-Ann Chen is no stranger to the Bay Area classical music scene.
For the past four or five years, Chen has led the San Francisco Symphony in its annual Lunar New Year concert, relying on her extensive knowledge of the Asian repertoire.
In January 2016, she served as a guest conductor for the Santa Rosa Symphony, where she led An-Lun Huang’s festive “Saibei Dance” along with works by Dvorak and Tchaikovsky.
That concert made a positive impression on symphony musicians and subscribers alike. So it was not surprising when the symphony announced last fall that Chen had been chosen as one of five conductor finalists to audition for a chance to succeed Music Director Bruno Ferrandis.
After her first orchestra rehearsal as a violinist at age 10, Chen said she ran home to tell her parents she wanted to be a conductor. Since then, she has single-mindedly pursued her “impossible dream,” teaching herself conducting when she could not find a teacher.
“I was a stubborn little girl,” she said. “I wanted to play the largest instrument in the room … so I memorized all my parts and fixed my eyes on the conductor.”
Born in Taiwan, Chen studied music in Taipei and was ready to enter college when she was granted an audition with well-known British conductor Benjamin Zander, who was leading the New England Conservatory Youth Philharmonic on a tour of Asia. After hearing her play, Zander offered her a scholarship to the New England Conservatory. She received a double master’s degree in conducting and violin from the conservatory, then went on to get a doctor of music arts in conducting from the University of Michigan.
From 2002 to 2007, Chen served as the Music Director of the Portland Youth Philharmonic in Oregon, then was appointed assistant conductor of the Atlanta and Baltimore symphonies. From 2010 to 2016, she served as music director of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. Since 2011, she has led the Chicago Sinfonietta and spends half the year guest conducting all over the world.
First responders
This weekend, all eyes will be on Chen as she returns to the Santa Rosa Symphony podium to lead Shostakovich’s “Festive Overture,” Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Armenian pianist Nareh Arghamanyan, Jennifer’s Higdon’s “blue cathedral” and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, “Italian.” The symphony has dedicated its 90th season to the first responders and those who have lost homes in the wildfires and will provide free tickets for the remaining concerts to both groups.
Here is the edited version of our interview with Chen, who was named one of Musical America’s 2015 Top 30 Influencers.
What will the symphony musicians enjoy about working with you?
I like to think of the symphony orchestra as an enlarged chamber group. I grew up as a violinist ... so I really view the musicians as my fellow musicians who are making chamber music with me. I hope that they feel inspired. It is daunting to have a unified interpretation between 60 to 80 musicians ... They are not just there to follow my directions. We make the music together.
What ideas do you have to engage and grow the audience here, and can you give an example of what you’ve already done with other orchestras?
What we have learned in Chicago is that sometimes the audience may not know they enjoy certain things. So you have to build that trust. If you talk about fate, you’ve got Beethoven No. 5, Tchaikovsky No. 4, but there may be other works they may not know and love and enjoy. So I try to build in audience engagement with the concert theme.
We did a really out-side-the-box program in Chicago, collaborating with a wonderful marching band called Mucca Pazza (Mad Cow), and we created a battle of the bands program. In addition, before and during intermission and post-concert, we created a battle of the beers to tie into something that’s very specific to the region. It might get people really curious about what the symphony is doing.
Everybody knows Dvorak’s New World Symphony, which was inspired by ... spiritual, gospels and Native American music. The world premiere was 1893 in Carnegie Hall. After the slow movement, the whole audience in Carnegie applauded nonstop for several minutes. So I brought in a youth choir and gospel choir to sing spirituals between the movements, before and after the slow movement ... It is a risk to interrupt the music. But in both Memphis and Chicago, the audience had four standing ovations, because the spirituals were so moving, and it gives you a deeper appreciation of those melodies. I think what the audience informed me is that it’s very educational for them to put things in context.
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