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Mei-Ann Chen (; born 1973) is a Taiwanese American conductor currently serving as music director of the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. She has been described as "one of the most dynamic young conductors in America". Encouraged by her parents, Chen began playing violin and piano at a young age and later taught herself how to play the trumpet. By observing her conductor, she began to teach herself how to conduct and even collected batons. Chen attended the Walnut Hill School, a preparatory school affiliated with the New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts, starting at age sixteen. She continued her undergraduate and advanced degree work at the Conservatory and became the first student to graduate from the institution with a double master's degree in conducting and violin performance. Chen later obtained a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Michigan. Chen became the Portland Youth Philharmonic's fourth conductor in 2002. During her five-year tenure, the orchestra debuted at Carnegie Hall, earned an ASCAP award in 2004 for innovative programming, and began collaborating with the Oregon Symphony and Chamber Music Northwest. She also served as assistant conductor of the Oregon Symphony from 2003 to 2005 and as cover conductor for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In 2005, Chen became the first woman to win the Malko Competition, which recognizes young conductors. That same year she won the Taki Concordia Fellowship. Chen left the Philharmonic in 2007, to become assistant conductor of the Atlanta Symphony. Chen served as assistant conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for its 2009–2010 season. She was appointed music director of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra; her three-year tenure began in September 2010 and was renewed for an additional three years in 2012. Chen also began serving as music director for the Chicago Sinfonietta during its 2010–2011 season. Throughout her career, Chen has appeared with the following symphonies throughout the United States and Canada: Alabama, Chautauqua, Chicago, Colorado, Columbus, Edmonton, Eugene,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Mei-Ann Chen )〕 Florida, Fort Worth, Grand Teton Festival Orchestra, Honolulu, Kalamazoo, National (Washington, D.C.), Pacific, Phoenix, Princeton, Rochester, Seattle, Toledo,〔 〕 and Toronto.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Maestro Mei-Ann Chen )〕 Appearances outside North America include all the principal Danish orchestras, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Graz Symphony, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Taiwan National Symphony,〔 Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Mei-Ann Chen )〕 Chen has also participated in the National Conducting Institute (Washington, D.C.) as well as the American Academy of Conducting in Aspen, Colorado.〔 During the 2011–2012 season, Chen will debut with the Jacksonville, Naples, Nashville, Pasadena, and Sarasota symphony orchestras, as well as the National Symphony of Mexico and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra.〔 ==Early life and education== Native to Taiwan, Mei-Ann Chen wanted to be a conductor since she was ten years old.〔 She began playing violin and piano starting at a young age with the support of her parents, and later taught herself to play the trumpet.〔 However, Chen's parents also discouraged her from pursuing conducting as they felt it would be a difficult career path for a woman.〔〔 She was intrigued with the concept of making elaborate noise, particularly without the use of an instrument.〔 Chen would observe her conductor closely and began to learn how to conduct on her own.〔〔 She collected batons, believing that "different pieces needed different kinds of batons".〔 Chen left Kaohsiung to study music in Taipei. There, she lived with her aunt and served as assistant conductor of her school's chorus. In 1989, Chen attended a concert in Taipei by the American Youth Orchestra,〔 a touring ensemble of Boston's New England Conservatory. Following the performance, Chen's accompanist escorted her backstage, introduced her to the conductor and asked if she could play for him. Chen's opportunity came the next morning when she played for conductor Benjamin Zander in a closed basement hotel bar and was offered a scholarship immediately.〔 She performed with the American Youth Orchestra before being invited to attend the Walnut Hill School, a preparatory school linked to the New England Conservatory,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Walnut Hill School: NEC at Walnut Hill )〕 two months later at age sixteen.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Memphian By Choice )〕 She left her parents, who thought she would study to become a concert violinist, and for more than three years lived with a couple in Boston she referred to as her "American parents" (Mark Churchill and Marylou Speaker Churchill, the latter of which was once a member of the Portland Junior Symphony).〔 Chen continued her undergraduate and graduate work at the Conservatory. Speaker taught Chen, who also received violin instruction from James Buswell and Eric Rosenblith as well as conducting supervision from Frank Battisti and Richard Hoenich.〔 Chen became the first person to graduate from the New England Conservatory with a double master's degree in conducting and violin performance and received two honors from the institution: the Chadwick Medal for outstanding undergraduate work and the Schuller Medal for "extraordinary contribution to musical life in the community".〔〔 Chen remained in Boston for nine years until she attended the University of Michigan to obtain a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting.〔〔〔 There she studied with Kenneth Kiesler and Martin Katz, served as music director of the campus orchestras, and also became conductor for the Arbor Opera Theater.〔 Chen said she pursued the doctorate degree because she did not receive any job offers and she questioned whether that was due to her being "young, a woman, Asian, or the combination of all three."〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mei-Ann Chen」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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