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Carolyn Kuan

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Carolyn Kuan
Background information
BornTaipei, Republic of China
GenresClassical
Occupationconductor
Instrumentpiano
Years active2011–present
Websitewww.carolynkuan.com

Carolyn Kuan (born 1977) is a Taiwanese-American conductor.

Kuan's family is originally from Guangzhou, China, though Kuan was born in Taipei. When she was five years old, her older brother received a piano as a birthday gift.[1] Kuan convinced her parents to allow her to play the piano. She sang in choirs and had an appreciation for opera, and initially wanted to be an opera singer.

Kuan's middle school had an American "sister school", Northfield Mount Hermon School, where Asian students from outside of the US could study. At age 14, she traveled by herself to the US to attend Northfield Mount Hermon.[2] Kuan subsequently studied economics (at her parents' request) and music, graduating cum laude from Smith College.[1] At Smith College, she first conducted an orchestra.[3] She continued her music education at the University of Illinois, where she earned a Master of Music degree, and at the Peabody Conservatory, where she earned a performance diploma.[1] Her conducting mentors have included Gustav Meier.[4]

In 2003, Kuan was the first woman to be awarded the Herbert von Karajan Conducting Fellowship, which resulted in a residency at the 2004 Salzburg Festival.[1] She won the first Taki Concordia Fellowship. She began work as a conducting assistant to Marin Alsop at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in 2003, and continued to work regularly at Cabrillo through 2012. In 2006, Kuan became assistant conductor of the Seattle Symphony, with a contract of 2 years.[5] In 2007, the orchestra promoted her to associate conductor.

In January 2011, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra named Kuan as its 10th music director, effective at the start of the 2012-2013 season, with an initial contract of 3 seasons.[4] She is the first female and the first Asian-American conductor to hold the post. This appointment represents Kuan's first music directorship.[6] In April 2015, the orchestra announced the extension of Kuan's contract for an additional six seasons, effective 1 June 2016, through May 2022.[7][8] In January 2016, during a labour dispute between Hartford Symphony Orchestra musicians and management, Kuan offered to reduce her salary 'commensurate' with the pay reductions that management requested of the musicians.[9]

Kuan released her debut album with the Naxos label in 2012, in works by various Chinese composers, featuring the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Her other work in contemporary music has included conducting the North American premieres of Huang Ruo's Dr. Sun Yat-sen at Santa Fe Opera in 2014,[10] and of Philip Glass' and Christopher Hampton's The Trial at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in June 2017.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d R.M. Campbell (11 July 2007). "New Seattle Symphony associate conductor is aiming for the top". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  2. ^ Jeffrey Johnson (28 November 2010). "Carolyn Kuan Final HSO Conductor Candidate". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  3. ^ Natasha Jacob (7 January 2010). "Q&A with Carolyn Kuan, an esteemed Seattle Symphony conductor". Northwest Asian Weekly. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  4. ^ a b Phyllis A.S. Boros (21 January 2011). "Carolyn Kuan named Hartford Symphony's 10th director; studied with GBS' Gustav Meier". Connecticut Post. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  5. ^ R.M. Campbell (9 May 2006). "SSO renews Schwarz's contract and fills 2 positions". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  6. ^ Steve Metcalf (30 September 2014). "HSO's Carolyn Kuan Is Hitting The Right Notes". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  7. ^ Steve Metcalf (16 April 2015). "Carolyn Kuan, the HSO's Rising Star, to Stay". WNPR. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  8. ^ MaryEllen Fillo (15 April 2015). "HSO Conductor Carolyn Kuan Signs New Six-Year Contract". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  9. ^ Steve Metcalf (15 January 2016). "Carolyn Kuan of Hartford Symphony Orchestra Breaks Silence, Vows "Commensurate" Pay Cut". WNPR. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  10. ^ Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim (27 July 2014). "A Revolutionary Who Cannot Be Silenced: Dr. Sun Yat-sen in the American Premiere at Santa Fe Opera". New York Times. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  11. ^ Sarah Bryan Miller (5 June 2017). "The Trial at OTSL gets a fine production, but the comedy is dark indeed". Saint Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
Cultural offices
Preceded by
Edward Cumming
 Music Director, Hartford Symphony Orchestra
2012–present 		Succeeded by
incumbent
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