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Alumnus Chang Yu An from the Department of Music recently has been selected as the new assistant conductor at Boston symphony orchestra, one of the top five orchestra in the states. He posted on facebook and committed to work diligently to live up to the reputation of Taiwanese conductors. 

Chang, now 32, 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.

After professional music program at NTNU, Chang went to the states as exchange student. Later, he fly to Berlin and has since actively work in Europe. In 2016, he won the 7th International Conducting Competition. He just started working with Konzerthausorchester Berlin three years ago. At the same year, he attended the International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors but failed at final round. Chang said that there’s no free lunch in the world. He once fell uncertain about his career but later realized that he would never give up music. Now he is the new assistant conductor of a big American orchestra, this is a huge step for him and a really exciting news for musicians in Taiwan. He felt pressured but still looking forward to the challenge. 

Chang will stay at the Tanglewood music festival from June to August and work at Boston Symphony Orchestra from September. It’s an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts and one of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". The headquarter Boston Symphony Hall is said to be one of the best music hall in the world. Chang said that it will be a valuable experience for him to be part of Boston Symphony Orchestra.