Live Chan Conducts The Nutcracker Fri 3 – Sat 4 December

One of the most sought-after of the young conductors and already widely admired for her unique combination of “drama and tenderness, power and delicacy” (Hereford Times), Elim Chan became the first female winner of Donatella Flick Conducting Competition and has now been appointed Chief Conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra from this season. In addition, she also holds the position as Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra since 2018/19.

The 2019/20 season features many highlights, starting off with an appearance at the BBC Proms where Elim Chan conducts the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, followed by her debuts with the Ensemble Intercontemporain, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Gothenburg Symphony and Netherlands Philharmonic orchestras, Swedish Radio and Toronto symphony orchestras and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. She returns to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra for their season opening concerts at Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Dortmund Konzerthaus as well as to the Philharmonia Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and the Australian Youth Orchestra amongst many others.

Celebrated by the press for her debuts with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin earlier in 2019, other highlights last season included engagements with Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Sydney Symphony orchestras alongside returns to Los Angeles Philharmonic and Rotterdam Philharmonic orchestras.

Elim Chan became Assistant Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra in 2015/16 and was appointed to the Dudamel Fellowship programme with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2016/17. Previously she led the Orchestre de la Francophonie as part of the NAC Summer Music Institute in 2012 where she worked with Pinchas Zukerman, and participated in the Musical Olympus Festival in St. Petersburg as well as in workshops with the Cabrillo Festival and Baltimore Symphony orchestras (with Marin Alsop, Gerard Schwarz and Gustav Meier). She also took part in masterclasses with Bernard Haitink in Lucerne in spring 2015. Elim Chan holds degrees from Smith College and the University of Michigan. Whilst there, she served as Music Director of the University of Michigan Campus Symphony Orchestra and the Michigan Pops Orchestra. She also received the Bruno Walter Conducting Scholarship in 2013.

Bertrand Chamayou has mastered an extensive repertoire displaying striking assurance, imagination, artistic approach, and remarkable consistency in his performances. He is a regular performer in venues such as the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Lincoln Center, the Herkulessaal Munich and London’s Wigmore Hall. He has appeared at major festivals including New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Lucerne Festival, Salzburg Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival and Beethovenfest Bonn.

This season sees him appear with Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Lorenzo Viotti, London Symphony Orchestra and François-Xavier Roth, SWR Symphonieorchester and Brad Lubman, Royal Scottish National Orchestra with Elim Chan, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and Semyon Bychkov, and the Orchestre de Paris. A tour with Les Siècles and Roth will lead him to important venues across Europe.

Bertrand Chamayou has worked with orchestras including Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, hr-Sinfonieorchester, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Danish National Symphony Orchestra. Recent highlights have included his celebrated debuts with New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, Pittsburgh Symphony and Budapest Festival Orchestra, Bamberger Symphoniker, Atlanta Symphony and Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig. Chamayou collaborated with conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Leonard Slatkin, Sir Neville Marriner, Michel Plasson, Stéphane Denève, Emmanuel Krivine and Andris Nelsons.

Chamayou is a regular chamber music performer, with partners including Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Quatuor Ébène, Antoine Tamestit and Sol Gabetta. Following his successful performances at Lincoln Center’s Great Performers Series and Salzburg’s Easter Festival, this season sees him perform recitals at Den Norske Opera, Teatro San Carlo Naples, SWR Freiburg and with Sol Gabetta at Philharmonie Essen, in Lucerne, Hannover, Semperoper Dresden and at Konzerthaus Freiburg.

Bertrand Chamayou has made a number of highly successful recordings, including a Naïve CD of music by César Franck, which was awarded several accolades. For his recording of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 5 he was awarded the Gramophone Recording of the Year Award 2019. The only artist to win France's prestigious Victoires de la Musique on four occasions, he has an exclusive recording contract with Warner/Erato and was awarded the 2016 ECHO Klassik for his recording of Ravel’s complete works for solo piano.

Bertrand Chamayou was born in Toulouse; his musical talent was quickly noted by pianist Jean-François Heisser, who later became his professor at the Paris Conservatoire. He completed his training with Maria Curcio in London.

The RSNO Junior Chorus is one of the leading children and youth choirs in the UK, with over 400 members aged seven to eighteen.

It was formed in 1978 by Jean Kidd and since 1994 has been directed by Christopher Bell. It has built up a considerable reputation singing under some of the world’s most distinguished conductors and appearing on radio and television.

RSNO Junior Chorus members sing regularly with Scotland’s national orchestra in major concert halls and festivals throughout the country. The Junior Chorus has also sung at BBC concerts and regularly appears at the Edinburgh International Festival.