The first woman to win the Malko International Conductors Competition (2005), Mei-Ann Chen is one of America's most promising young conductors. Having recently concluded a highly successful tenure as assistant conductor of the Atlanta Symphony, she began a one-year appointment as the League of American Orchestras' conducitng fellow and assistant conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in the fall of 2009.

Ms. Chen's guest conducting appearances include all the principal Danish orchestras, the Atlanta Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony, Eugene Symphony, Honolulu Symphony, Lexington Philharmonic, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, Princeton Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Taiwan National Symphony, Toledo Symphony and the Trondheim Symphony. Awarded the Taki Concordia Fellowship in 2007, she appeared jointly with Marin Alsop and Stefan Sanderling in highly acclaimed subscription concerts with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Symphony and Florida Orchestra.

During the 2009-2010 season, Ms. Chen will make debuts with the Alabama Symphony, Chicago Sinfonietta, Fort Worth Symphony, Kalamazoo Symphony, Memphis Symphony and Toronto Symphony, as well as return engagements with the Atlanta Symphony and Taiwan National Symphony.

A native of Taiwan, Ms. Chen has lived in the United States since 1989. She holds master's degrees in both conducting and violin from the New England Conservatory, and a doctor of musical arts in conducting from the University of Michigan, where she was a student of Kenneth Kiesler. She was a participant in the National Conducting Institute in Washington, D.C. and the American Academy of Conducting in Aspen. During her five-year tenure as music director of the Portland (OR) Youth Philharmonic, she led its sold-out debut in Carnegie Hall, received an ASCAP award for innovative programming and was honored with a Sunburst Award from Young Audiences for her contribution to music education.