“When I played in orchestras as a shy violinist, I saw this person on the podium helping to make the biggest sound in the room,” Maestra Mei-Ann Chen told me in a recent interview. “I would show up [to rehearsal] with my parts memorized and fix my eyes on that conductor as he looked around. I was the best kid, the only one looking up at all, and I was going to try to steal his craft at age 10.”
Growing up in Taiwan in the 1980s, Chen studied violin and piano. But when she started playing in orchestras, she began to understand the role of the conductor — a role she knew she wanted more than any other, and certainly more than becoming a violinist or a pianist.
“I realized that I could use body language to help communicate with others [through music], and I saw that that was the language for me,” she recalls. Her parents worried they wouldn’t be able to find a conducting teacher for her at such a young age, but Chen devised her own self-study by carefully watching her orchestra conductors.
Chen has since established a celebrated conducting career and is in demand internationally across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. But her primary post is with the Chicago Sinfonietta; she has served as the orchestra’s music director since 2011, and her contract was recently extended through the end of the 2028-2029 season.
Mei-Ann Chen leads the Chicago Sinfonietta — Photo by Kyle Flubacker
Since its founding in 1987 by the late Maestro Paul Freeman, the Chicago Sinfonietta has made it their mission to champion diversity, equity, and inclusion through innovative programming: a mission that remains quite unique among U.S. orchestras. Many U.S. orchestras are struggling to maintain audiences and funding, and some are facing organizational restructuring. Orchestras are also under pressure to reflect and respond appropriately to the racial reckonings of 2020 and other serious challenges during the pandemic. But orchestras like the Sinfonietta that are adapting and changing with the landscape are reaching new audiences and building more inclusive communities.
The Sinfonietta’s mission is one that Chen seeks to fulfill alongside President and CEO Blake-Anthony Johnson. She credits Johnson for establishing a brand-new collaboration with KultureCity to create sensory-friendly concerts, and the Sinfonietta is also continuing their “Pay What You Can” program for a third year, making classical concerts accessible to more people.
We want to make classical music fun for everybody, and definitely open up the doors for those who have been unable to access classical music concerts.
“Blake-Anthony wanted to make sure that the Sinfonietta is immersed in the multiple communities we serve,” Chen explains. “So we’re constantly thinking of ways — from myself in terms of programming and Blake-Anthony in terms of structure — that we can utilize our musicians’ talent, and try to keep the Sinfonietta in people’s minds… I’m just grateful to have a partner so willing to try things because accessibility is key for the Sinfonietta’s concerts. We want to make classical music fun for everybody, and definitely open up the doors for those who have been unable to access classical music concerts.”
This fall, the Sinfonietta debuted at their new home: the historic Auditorium Theatre in downtown Chicago. For years, the ensemble performed at Symphony Center, home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and their concerts were always programmed on Monday nights, a difficult slot for attracting new audiences. The new venue allows the Sinfonietta to present weekend concerts and provides additional exposure to potential Chicago audiences.
“Now being the resident orchestra at the Auditorium Theatre, people will walk by and see our name, see my photo, our photos, right there at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Ida B. Wells Drive, having even more presence in the city,” Chen notes.
Chen is also deeply invested in music education and spends her summers leading Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra 2, a training program for young musicians aged 14 to 17 who are typically “underserved by and underrepresented in the classical orchestral field.” At the Sinfonietta, one of their signature educational initiatives is the Freeman Fellowship Program, which offers professional development opportunities for orchestral musicians, conductors, arts administrators, and composers.
Mei-Ann Chen — Photo by Simon Pauly
“We have launched at least a dozen conductors of color into professional positions,” Chen says. “One of our first fellows, who is now a well-known guest conductor, just made a subscription debut with the Boston Symphony last season. A recent graduate from our program just won second prize in the Mahler Conducting Competition. So [our fellows] are everywhere and literally creating global effects.”
Chicago boasts multiple celebrated orchestras, including the Chicago Sinfonietta. Local orchestral musicians circulate in a healthy freelance market and play with various ensembles, which makes the Sinfonietta’s roster ever-changing, with a few exceptions. Though at times this can present an exciting challenge during rehearsals.
“Often I view myself as a coach — like what do we need to get a really good sports team together?” Chen ponders. “It’s my role to empower [the musicians] to do the best they can, and in the meantime enjoy the process, because everybody juggles a whole lot. Many of the musicians of the orchestra have day jobs, whether that’s teaching at schools or private lessons. Some of them have other interests; one of our violinists is a well-known actor in town, and one of them is a New York Times best-selling author.”
“We’re so proud of them developing their full potential as people, as talented musicians and professionals. At the same time, it is a lot of multitasking. So my job is to create something unified in only three rehearsals, and also do things that are a little bit outside of the box, which takes more time than a standard overture, or concerto, or symphony. If you compare our programming to other orchestras, you would say, Oh my goodness, how can they pull this off together?”
The Sinfonietta continues to champion works by musicians of color and women composers, and works for unusual instruments and timely concepts. Chen says her process for selecting music is an organic one, informed by conversations with fellow musicians, guest conductor engagements, and her travels. Because of her reputation as an advocate for new music, orchestras often invite her to conduct world premieres, which has helped introduce her to the work of many composers.
“I’m constantly putting my ear to the ground,” she explains. “In addition to my own awareness and being curious, and inviting colleagues to suggest names of composers [and works] to me, [the Chicago Sinfonietta] collects a large wish list [of pieces] from everybody: from the staff, from our board members, from our audience members. We get unsolicited suggestions all the time. The challenge is that we only perform five major subscription concerts per year. But we have a really long wish list, and sometimes we work for years to get an artist to Chicago for a premiere.”
Though Chen spends much of her time traveling for special projects and guest engagements, Chicago is never far from her heart and mind, and that brings her comfort. “Even though I’m on the road so much, I’m proud of Chicago because Chicago is my favorite big city. It is a small city in terms of people knowing each other, right? Like six degrees of separation. People here are friendly. As I travel to Europe and Asia, I try to bring coffee from Chicago along, so I will bring a piece of Chicago with me to other parts of the world.”
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