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The Alumni of Music Department of NTNU, Chang Yu An, won the 1st place of the 7th International Conducting Competition. This is the first world class award of Chang, which helps him pave a path to his career as a conductor. Chang said he didn’t expect to get the award before the competition. “In the future, I would like to attend more contests to gain experience.”

The competition was held by the cultural bureau of Romania, Elite Art Club UNESCO and Jeunesses Musicales International. Although it’s a relatively new competition as it started 7 years ago, it has become the stepping stone for many famous conducting competition. 

“My counterparts and classmates are very outstanding and all I can do is to work harder.” He is very grateful to the judges who gave him this award. “I know clearly that my ability won’t increase because I get this award. I have to work on the basic skills and keep fighting.” The piece Chang conducted are Violin Concerto from Ceaikovski and Symphony no 5 from Shostakovici. 

Chang was originally from Chinese Orchestra and how he is the rising star as a conductor. His story is inspiring. Chang, now 30, was born and raised in Peng Hu. It wasn’t until high school that his music teacher found his talent in music. He later entered the Department of Music and studied Traditional Chinese. Professor Apo Hsu discovered his potential in conducting and Chang went to Hochschule fuer Musik Hanns Eisler, Berlin to study orchestra conducting. 

During his years in Germany, he has worked with Frankfurt Staatsorchester and Brandenburg Sinfoniker. In 2014, he was chosen as representative of HfM Berlin to join the Deutsche Hochschulewettbewerb Orchesterdirigieren. Last year, Chang worked with Konzerthausorchester Berlin and in the same year, he made it to the finalists of Besangon International Competition for Young Conductors. This year, he did pretty well, too. For Chang, the best thing for joining the competition is not the prize but the faith to believe in music. Now, there are 2 orchestra inviting him to conduct for the next year. He will continue his path. No pain, no gain. Chang said he had frustration before, but “I know that I couldn’t give up on music, that’s why I will keep working on it.”