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.