Chun-Ming Chen to Serve as New Director of Orchestra in College of Fine Arts
“I am grateful to serve in the USD music department, which has a long tradition of excellence,” said Chen. “I am excited about making music with motivated students alongside dedicated colleagues in a supportive community. I can’t wait to take this journey with our students and to create meaningful music together.”
"We are very excited to have Dr. Chen join the Department of Music here at USD in the fall," said David Holdhusen, Ph.D., chair of the music department, director of choral activities, and the Douglas and Susan Tuve Distinguished Professor of Choral Music. "He is an outstanding musician who will do wonderful things with the orchestra program. The string area has undergone significant growth, both in terms of quantity and quality over the past 5-6 years. Our students have won competitions, the Chamber Orchestra has played for numerous state conferences, and an album, which the USD Symphony Orchestra was part of, was nominated for a Latin Grammy. Dr. Chen steps into a strong program, and I truly believe he has the skills and personality to take the orchestra to even greater heights."
Chen's conducting experience bridges the professional and academic worlds. Over his career, he has worked with orchestras ranging from high school to college and youth to professional. He has performed with musicians such as the Grammy-winning vocal ensemble New York Voices, pianists André Watts and Ching-Yun Hu, and violinist Rachel Barton Pine. Musicians credited Chen's rehearsal as highly efficient, and the audience described his performance as extremely passionate.
Previously, Chen served as director of orchestral activities at the University of Evansville Music Conservatory, conductor of the Evansville Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, music director of the Heartland Symphony Orchestra in Little Falls, Minnesota, and interim conductor of the Grinnell College Symphony Orchestra in Grinnell, Iowa, and Coe College Symphony Orchestra in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He has appeared as a guest conductor with the Hsinchu Philharmonic Orchestra, Miaoli Wind Ensemble in Taiwan, and Indiana ASTA All-Region Honor Orchestra.
Chen received his bachelor's degree in saxophone performance from Tunghai University, master's degrees in orchestral conducting from Boston Conservatory and Ithaca College, and a doctorate in orchestral conducting from the University of Iowa. His primary teachers included Annie Chung, DMA, Bruce Hangen, Jeffery Meyer, DMA, and William LaRue Jones, DMA.
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