The Northwest Sinfonietta (Tacoma, Washington) today announced the appointment of conductors Mei-Ann Chen and Jeffery Meyer as the two newest artistic partners of the orchestra beginning with the 2022-2023 season. They join award-winning Israeli conductor Yaniv Attar, who has been an artistic partner with the ensemble since 2018.
Northwest Sinfonietta board president Natalie Mayer stated, “I’m very excited about our artistic partnerships with Mei-Ann, Jeff and Yaniv. I can’t wait to see what these diverse conductors bring to our organization and audiences."
Concertmaster Denise Dillenbeck said, “Mei-Ann Chen’s work with us in the spring highlighted her incredible leadership, collaborative and exciting style, and skill with all kinds of music, from Mozart to modern day."
"Meeting Northwest Sinfonietta was literally love at first sight - making music with these wonderful musicians feels so familiar and inspiring, as if I have known them a long time! said Ms. Chen. "It is a unique honor to collaborate with fellow conductors Jeffery Meyer and Yaniv Attar as artistic partners, and to be part of a highly creative team that is driven to explore possibilities and innovations! I am excited to see the interesting collaborations and rewarding musical results of this special partnership!"
Ms. Chen adds this position to her music directorship of the ground-breaking 35 year-old Chicago Sinfonietta and post as Chief Conductor of Austria’s Recreation Grosses Orchester Graz at Styriarte.
About the Northwest Sinfonietta
Founded in 1991 by harpsichordist Kathryn Habedank and conductor Christophe Chagnard, the Northwest Sinfonietta is a 35-member ensemble and the premiere chamber orchestra in the Puget Sound region. It blends the intimacy of chamber music with the power of a full orchestra. In 2015, the Northwest Sinfonietta became one of the few orchestras in the world to move to an Artistic Partner model of operations, giving the musicians of the ensemble a larger role in the programming and vision for the ensemble. www.nwsinfonietta.org.
About conductor Mei-Ann Chen
Praised for her dynamic, passionate conducting style, Taiwanese American conductor Mei-Ann Chen is acclaimed for infusing orchestras with energy, enthusiasm and high-level music-making, galvanizing audiences and communities alike. Music Director of the MacArthur Award-winning Chicago Sinfonietta since 2011, Ms. Chen also is Chief Conductor of Austria’s Recreation Grosses Orchester Graz at Styriarte since fall 2021, following two seasons as the orchestra’s first-ever Principal Guest Conductor, making her the first female Asian conductor to hold this position with an Austrian orchestra. From fall 2019 through spring 2022, she served as the first-ever Artistic Partner of Houston’s ROCO (River Oaks Chamber Orchestra). Ms. Chen also has served as Artistic Director & Conductor for the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra Summer Festival (2016- 2021).
Highly regarded as a compelling communicator and an innovative leader both on and off the podium, and a sought-after guest conductor, she has appeared with distinguished orchestras throughout the Americas, Europe, Taiwan, The United Kingdom, and Scandinavia, and continues to expand her relationships with orchestras worldwide (over 120 orchestras to date). Honors include being named one of the 2015 Top 30 Influencers by Musical America; the 2012 Helen M. Thompson Award from the League of American Orchestras; Winner, the 2007 Taki Concordia Fellowship founded by Marin Alsop; and 2005 First Prize Winner of the Malko Competition (she remains as the only woman in the competition history since 1965 to have won First Prize), and ASCAP awards for innovative programming.
Ms. Chen is Conductor Laureate of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra after serving as Music Director 2010 – 2016. Born in Taiwan, Ms. Chen came to the United States to study violin in 1989 and became the first student in New England Conservatory’s history to receive master’s degrees simultaneously in both violin and conducting, and she earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting at the University of Michigan.www.meiannchen.com
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