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David Chan
The long-term concertmaster of the New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra becomes a professor at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music in Texas, USA
The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston, Texas, USA has announced the appointment of American violinist David Chan as Professor of Violin, starting full time in Autumn 2025. Chan joins Shepherd's violin faculty after twenty-five seasons as concertmaster of the New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and as a faculty member at Juilliard and at the Manhattan School of Music.
Matthew Loden, Dean of Music at Shepherd, says:
This appointment results from Shepherd's decades-long initiative to build one of the finest orchestral programs in the country. David's vast experience with the orchestral and operatic repertoire and his gift for teaching the next generation of talent is a perfect fit for Shepherd's ensemble-building focus. That our graduates are joining top-ranking orchestras around the world can largely be attributed to our distinguished faculty and specialized instruction. We're very fortunate to welcome David to that illustrious group as we continue to celebrate our fiftieth anniversary.
At Shepherd, Chan will maintain a full violin studio, teach orchestral repertoire, coach students in chamber music through individual instruction, and help lead creative labs, where students will workshop new commissions, focus on ensemble readings, and develop new creative practices. The Shepherd School continues to advance cross-discipline initiatives that can result in new musical works on themes relating to the environment, health and virtual reality, among other things. Chan joins Shepherd's current violin faculty members Paul Kantor, Cho-Liang Lin and Kathleen Winkler, who comments:
David's multifaceted career is awe-inspiring. He is a world-class soloist, a devoted educator and mentor, and the esteemed director of music festivals and leadership programs worldwide. The breadth of knowledge and expertise he will bring to the Shepherd School of Music is sensational. We are all thrilled to have him join our ranks.
David Chan adds:
I've had the privilege of making music at the very highest level for the past twenty-five years in one of the world's great orchestras. Now the time has come in my career to share everything I've learned with the young people who represent the future of our magnificent art. Joining the fantastic community of colleagues and students at Rice is the perfect opportunity to do that.
American violinist David Chan. Photo © 2020 Tey Tat Keng
A native of San Diego, Chan has performed throughout the USA, Europe and Asia. His solo engagements have included those with the Aspen Chamber Symphony Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the Met Orchestra, Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, the Northbrook Symphony Orchestra, the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Springfield Symphony Orchestra and the Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra. He also appears frequently as a guest artist at La Jolla Music Society's SummerFest, at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan and at the Seattle Chamber Music Festival.
Chan has also quickly made a name for himself as an elegant conductor of unusual interpretive depth. He was recently named Artistic Director of the Taipei Music Academy and Festival, one of the world's pre-eminent educational festivals. He also serves as Principal Conductor of the Apollo Orchestra in the Washington DC area, and as Director of the Credo Festival, an orchestral institute held annually in Chicago's Symphony Center.
After winning prizes at the Tchaikovsky and Indianapolis international violin competitions, Chan made his New York debut in 1995 at Avery Fisher Hall, and his Carnegie Hall debut in 2003, performing Brahms' Double Concerto with the Met Orchestra. He studied at Harvard and Juilliard, and his teachers included Dorothy DeLay, Hyo Kang and Michael Tseitlin.
Chan will move to Houston this summer and, over the next two years, will gradually phase out of his roles at Juilliard and at the Manhattan School of Music, where he has been Head of the Orchestral Performance programme. As an interim step, New York Metropolitan Opera has granted Chan a one-year leave of absence.
Further information: music.rice.edu
Posted 14 April 2025 by Keith Bramich
