SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Elim Chan was hired as first female music director of the San Francisco Symphony on Thursday, two years after Esa-Pekka Salonen announced he was leaving because he did not share the same goals as the orchestra's board.
Chan, 39, will start with the 2027–28 season and was given a six-year term. She was given the title music director designate until then.
Chan was born in Hong Kong and studied at Smith College and the University of Michigan.
She was principal conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra in Belgium from 2019–24 and principal guest conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra from 2018–23. She will be artistic partner of the Vienna Symphony for two seasons starting next fall.
Salonen, whose term ended with the 2024-25 season, announced his departure after the orchestra's management cut spending. He succeeded Michael Tilson Thomas, the music director from 1995 to 2020.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Dirk van Ulden said:
Dirk van Ulden said:
DavidKristofferson said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.