In 2014, she became the first woman to win the major Donatella Flick Conducting Competition, kick-starting an international career that included a stint at the London Symphony Orchestra and opening the 2024 BBC Proms, Britain's top classical music festival.
"I love to surprise people," said Chan, 38, in an interview ahead of guest-conducting the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in November.
"When I started, people had super low expectations of me. They thought, yeah, a little Asian girl... What can she do?"
Her rise reflects how the classical music world is gradually being reshaped by a new generation of conductors.
Chan's most recent gig - a five-year tenure as principal conductor at the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra that ended in May - left her convinced that musicians need new ways to engage audiences in an age of easy distractions.
Many ensembles hit the reset button when the Covid-19 pandemic ended, but Chan said they should "incorporate things that they have learnt, and not just completely go back to what has been".
Plenty of mistakes were made including some early video productions that Chan admitted were "very bad" - but she said she would keep pushing.
Denne historien er fra December 04, 2024-utgaven av The Straits Times.
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Denne historien er fra December 04, 2024-utgaven av The Straits Times.
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CALLIGRAPHY IS BIG WITH ARTIST
The boulders hiding in the alcove of Tong Yang-tze's (right) Taipei apartment testify to this Taiwanese calligrapher's daunting perfectionism. They are paper - remnants of discarded artworks, crumpled together like used tissues and soaked into inky wads of pulp. Hundreds of old drafts of writing, including many of her efforts to draw Chinese poetry at a monumental scale, have been recycled into these rocks over the years, most recently as she worked on her commission for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which debuted on Nov 21.
Mattel sued over Wicked dolls with porn website link
LOS ANGELES - Mattel was sued on Dec 3 by a South Carolina mother for mistakenly putting a link to a pornographic website on packaging for dolls tied to the blockbuster movie Wicked.
Taiwanese musician-director Liu Chia-chang a composer of hit songs
Famed veteran Taiwanese musician and director Liu Chia-chang has died at the age of 81.
Actress Kristal Tin reveals lung cancer diagnosis
Former TVB actress Kristal Tin revealed on Instagram on Dec 3 that she has undergone successful surgery for lung cancer.
South Korean entertainment schedules up in the air
SEOUL - Schedules of performances and interviews in South Korea have been thrown into a state of uncertainty by a sudden martial law declaration that was lifted only a few hours later.
Host Dasmond Koh surprised by martial law edict while in Seoul for work
Upheaval in Seoul, South Korea
Squid Game returns to end 2024 with a bang
In this monthly column, The Straits Times' streaming picks for December include the long-awaited second season of the survivalist hit Squid Game (2021 to present) and its non-lethal equivalent.
Flow speaks Volumes, The Room Next Door a thin melodrama
In the wake of a devastating flood, a cat finds refuge with motley stranded animals on a tattered sailboat.
Funeral rites come alive in The Last Dance
The Hong Kong drama offers fascinating glimpses into the city's funeral traditions
Tolkien and anime work well together, says Japanese director
NEW YORK - It has been a decade since the work of fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien last appeared on the big screen.