Renowned international music conservatory Manhattan School of Music (MSM) today announced that acclaimed conductor and educator Mei-Ann Chen will become Director of Orchestral Activities and Chair of the Conducting Program. In her new role, which takes effect on July 1, 2026, Ms. Chen will provide strategic and artistic leadership for the MSM orchestra program, teach and mentor conducting students, and regularly conduct the MSM Symphony Orchestra as part of the School’s annual performance season.

"...Conductor Mei-Ann Chen opened the set with Huan-Zhi Li's Spring Festival Overture, the Lunar New Year equivalent of a curtain raiser, immediately warm and recognizable. Along with the music, the projection screen cycled through animated horses, cloud sequences, and multilingual New Year greetings in Korean, Vietnamese, and Chinese.

Chen, a Taiwanese American conductor who has led this program before and visibly loves it, wore a black jacket with deep red cuffs and conducted with the kind of physical energy that makes you feel like she's having more fun than anyone else in the room. She is in fact my favorite guest conductor, always warm and engaging the audience...."

SPRINGFIELD — Women will take center stage at Symphony Hall on Saturday, March 14, when the Springfield Symphony Orchestra presents “Mendelssohn, Gershwin, & A Woman’s Voice.”

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Chen’s passion is to discover hidden gems by women, such as Mendelssohn-Hensel’s “Overture in C major.”

“These are works that deserved to be played yet not in the standard repertoire circulation, especially works by women that have been hidden for a long time,” Chen said, adding that Mendelssohn-Hensel’s only surviving orchestral work is gaining exposure in the symphonic music world after first surfacing in 1994."