In Wednesday’s (8/4) Chicago Tribune, John von Rhein reports, “The appointment of Mei-Ann Chen to succeed Paul Freeman as music director of the Chicago Sinfonietta, beginning with the orchestra’s 25th anniversary season in 2011-12, brings to the city one of the most highly praised conducting talents of her generation. … Chen, 37, born in Taiwan and a U.S. resident since 1989, is rapidly making a name for herself … Her four-year contract calls for her to be in residence with the sinfonietta for eight weeks a season, during which time she will conduct four concerts and spend four weeks engaged in planning, fundraising and extending the bridges between the nation’s most diverse professional orchestra and the community. … Chicago will be sharing Chen with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, where she will begin a three-year tenure as music director beginning this fall. … Chen made her Chicago podium debut with the sinfonietta at its season opener in October. She left such a vibrant impression with the orchestra musicians, staff and Freeman that her appointment became virtually a foregone conclusion … for the post that Freeman has held since the orchestra’s inception in 1987.” Chen is a former League of American Orchestras American Conducting Fellow.
Posted August 5, 2010
