Chicago Sinfonietta, the nation’s most diverse orchestra, has announced that it will renew the contract of Music Director Mei-Ann Chen through the end of the 2020-21 season. The announcement culminates Chicago Sinfonietta’s successful 30th anniversary season, and the enthusiasm that has made Chen an audience favorite promises another exhilarating three-year stretch on the podium.
In what will be her eighth season with Chicago Sinfonietta, Chen will conduct four of five subscription concerts along with a season-opening September performance in Millennium Park. In addition to an imaginative and highly anticipated 2018-19 program, she will also support Chicago Sinfonietta special events and educational initiatives, including the Project Inclusion Freeman Fellowship program.
“I am delighted that Mei-Ann has extended her contract through the 2020-21 season,” said Jim Hirsch, Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Sinfonietta. “Over the past seven years she has brought excitement and innovation to every concert she has conducted and fully embraces the Sinfonietta’s unique mission of promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in classical music. I appreciate the close partnership we have forged and look forward to working with her in the future.”
During her tenure, which began in 2011, Chen has contributed to Chicago Sinfonietta’s expanded reach and impact, more than doubling single-ticket revenue and raising the company profile nationwide with innovative programming. Under Chen’s musical direction, Chicago Sinfonietta was awarded the prestigious MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, a one-time grant providing long-term sustainability to creative and impactful nonprofit organizations. She was also named one of Music America’s Top 30 Influencers in 2015, and received both an ASCAP award for innovative programming and the Helen M. Thompson Award from the League of American Orchestras.
“Mei-Ann Chen brings an innovation and social awareness to classical music that is simply unprecedented,” said Maurice Smith, President of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois and Chair of the Chicago Sinfonietta Board of Directors. “Her vision in the concert hall and support of the Project Inclusion Freeman Fellowship program are a true testament to Chicago Sinfonietta’s larger mission of diversity and inclusion in the arts sector. That perseverance and passion coupled with the efforts of our musicians, staff and board have significantly raised the bar for arts programming and cultural advocacy in Chicago and beyond. We look forward to elevating our continued successes as an organization in 2018-19 and onward under Mei-Ann’s musical direction.”
Musical highlights of Chen’s seven illustrious seasons include:
• A reimagined “Rhapsody in Blue” with seminal jazz pianist Marcus Roberts and his trio
• A bass-centric Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration alongside virtuoso Victor Wooten
• Three “Project W” compositions by Jessie Montgomery, Clarice Assad and Reena Esmail commissioned by the Sinfonietta, and the co-commission of a work by Jennifer Higdon, all recorded for a 2019 release on Cedille Records
• A mock “battle of the bands” with Chicago-based performance art marching band Mucca Pazza
• A convergence of symphonic music and star power with astronomer/visual artist Jose Francisco Salgado
“My journey with the Chicago Sinfonietta family for the past seven seasons has been a truly remarkable one,” said Chen. “The Sinfonietta provides an environment that encourages all of us to believe in possibilities before they become a reality, and to contemplate how symphonic music can reflect the world in which we live. I am truly honored and privileged to continue championing for diversity, inclusion and equality through the unique mission of the Chicago Sinfonietta, an organization that redefines the orchestral experience for the 21st century and embraces the multicultural relevance of America today.”
About the Sinfonietta
Now in its 31st year, Chicago Sinfonietta has pushed artistic boundaries to provide an alternative way of hearing, seeing and thinking about a symphony orchestra and is dedicated to promoting diversity, inclusion, racial and cultural equity in the arts. Each concert experience blends inventive new works with classical masterworks, each from a diverse array of voices, to entertain, transform and inspire. In 2016, Chicago Sinfonietta was the proud recipient of John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s prestigious MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions (MACEI). This award recognizes exceptional organizations that are key contributors in their fields.
About Mei-Ann Chen
Innovation, imagination, passion and dynamism are the hallmarks of conductor Mei-Ann Chen. Music Director of the MacArthur Award-winning Chicago Sinfonietta since 2011, and Artistic Director & Conductor for the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra Summer Festival since 2016, Chen is acclaimed for infusing orchestras with energy, enthusiasm, high-level music-making, and galvanizing audiences and communities alike. A sought-after guest conductor, Chen’s reputation as a compelling communicator has resulted in growing popularity with orchestras globally.
North American guesting credits include appearances with the Symphony Orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Chicago, Detroit, Fort Worth, Houston, Indianapolis, Oregon, River Oaks Chamber, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, and Vancouver. Overseas engagements include the symphonies of BBC Scottish, Denmark’s National, Aalborg, Aarhus, and Odense, Sweden’s Gävle, Gothenburg, Helsingborg, Malmö, and Norrköping, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra at the Concertgebouw, Norwegian Radio and Trondheim, Finland’s Tampere Philharmonic, Austria’s Grosses Orchester Graz, Germany’s Badische Staatskapelle Karlsruhe, Brazil’s São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, and National Taiwan. Future engagements include debuts with Denmark’s Copenhagen Philharmonic on a 7-city tour, Germany’s Würth Philharmonic, Netherland’s Residentie Orkest, Norway’s Oslo Philharmonic, Switzerland’s Basel, and Turkey’s Bilkent, and return engagements with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for its Gala program with Lang Lang, and Austria’s Recreation Grosses Orchester Graz and Malmö Symphony, among others. Additional honors and awards include First Prize Winner of Copenhagen’s 2005 Malko Competition and another ASCAP award for innovative programming while with the Portland Youth Philharmonic in Oregon. Chen is also Conductor Laureate of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.
For more information on Chicago Sinfonietta, please visit www.chicagosinfonietta.org.
