In Thursday’s (12/15) Commercial Appeal, Lindsay Melvin writes, “Mei-Ann Chen, the music director for the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, is earning a reputation for her energy on stage. A native of Taiwan, Chen, 38, is in her second season as music director of the MSO and her first leading the Chicago Sinfonietta. Often living out of her suitcase, the high-octane conductor spends little time at her Mud Island apartment and has agreed to be a guest conductor in 20 cities. Chen came to Memphis having been assistant conductor of the Oregon, Baltimore and Atlanta symphonies. She was in Memphis briefly earlier this month before flying home to spend her first Christmas in 10 years with her elderly parents in Taiwan.” Where does Chen’s high energy come from? “When I was a doctoral candidate at the University of Michigan, I was getting rejection letters, and I almost gave up,” she says. “So I promised myself, if one day I were able to stand on the podium, I would conduct like it was the last time.” On what makes the Memphis Symphony distinctive, Chen comments, “We’re stepping outside our comfort zone in a way no other orchestra has. For example, our Opus One series collaborated with (Memphis rapper) Al Kapone. We also had a show of pictures of galaxies and planets while the orchestra played.”
Posted December 15, 2011
