Conductor / Machine 8.3.08

Carolyn Kuan, Assistant Conductor

The Washington Post heralded Carolyn Kuan’s Kennedy Center debut with the National Symphony Orchestra, noting, "It’s exciting news when any young conductor makes a debut with a major ensemble....Kuan won her case."

Currently Seattle Symphony’s Associate Conductor, Kuan has also served as Assistant Conductor for North Carolina Symphony and Baltimore Opera Company.

An Artist-in-Residence in 2004 and 2005 at the New York City Ballet, Kuan made her conducting debut in the Ballet’s American Music Festival. Honoring this auspicious occasion, The New York Times noted that Kuan, as the guest conductor for Ivesiana, "sensitively merg[ed] the music with Balanchine's stupefying images....In all, a Balanchine ballet with a difference."

As a guest conductor, Kuan has performed with Bournemouth Symphony, Boulder Philharmonic, Charleston Symphony, Detroit Symphony, National Symphony, Richmond Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony. This season marks her debuts with Baltimore Symphony, Eastern Music Festival, South Carolina Philharmonic, Symphony of Southeast Texas and a return engagement with San Francisco Symphony.

Kuan is a keen advocate of new music, having served as Assistant Conductor for the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music under Music Director Marin Alsop since 2003. In this same vein, Kuan held the post of conductor of the Smith College Composers Ensemble and has led the Peabody Symphony Orchestra in readings and recordings of new compositions. Recently, Kuan led four world premieres in Merkin Hall New York City for Music from Japan.

The recipient of numerous awards, Kuan holds the distinction of being the first female to be awarded the Herbert von Karajan Conducting Fellowship by the Herbert von Karajan Centrum and American Austrian Foundation in 2003, an honor that resulted in her residency at the 2004 Salzburg Festival. Also a winner of the first Taki Concordia Fellowship, she has received additional awards from Women's Philharmonic, Conductors Guild, Kate Neal Kinley Memorial Fellowship and Susan W. Rose Fund for Music.

Kuan studied with Marin Alsop, Kurt Masur, Gustav Meier and Leonard Slatkin. She has also worked with BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Concordia Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmónica de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Nash Ensemble and Scottish Ensemble. Kuan graduated cum laude from Smith College and received a Master of Music from the University of Illinois and a Performance Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory.

Photo: r.r. jones