Elim Chan on paring down, saying no and preparing for the First Night of the Proms

I meet Hong Kong-born conductor Elim Chan on Zoom, the day after she flies into Berlin for a project with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and violinist María Dueñas. Her warning at the start of our conversation that post-travel exhaustion might affect her articulacy is rendered completely null as Chan dives into an eloquent reflection on her career and approach to her craft, 10 years after triumph at the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition launched her into the spotlight, as well as offering an exciting preview of how she plans to bring her First Night of the Proms programme to life next Friday.

'Standing on that stage you really feel like a rock star. People are right there with you, you can see their faces, you can see them cheering for you' © Sisi Burn

You will be giving your BBC Proms First Night debut on 19 July – how are you preparing for this upcoming performance?

It's really a dream come true, as cheesy as it sounds. It was a dream I didn't dare to think about, and then it just landed in my hands.

This will be my third Prom, I made my Proms debut in 2019 and conducted the Enigma variations in 2023. For this year’s season, we were originally talking about a different project, not the First Night, but then suddenly the invitation changed, and they said, ‘What about the First Night?’. I've never seen someone like me in that position; it's always someone so iconic and successful. So for someone like me, a very petite, Asian girl from Hong Kong to have this chance, is really mind blowing. At first I literally jumped around my room but as it sank in, I thought, ‘OK, this is such an honour and I worked really hard so I'm going to step into this.’ I really have changed from thinking, ‘I don’t deserve it!’ to, ‘I'm going to do it and I'm going to rock it.’ I'm quite calm now because I'm very happy about it – I'm still excited about it, but there's this feeling of ‘It's time’.

It's also a really special season because it’s David Pickard’s last one. He was the one who came to Heidelberg some years ago to see who I was, so for me to be on his last programmed Proms is just an honour.

It sounds like you’ve overcome a lot of impostor syndrome. Is this mindset something that has developed throughout your career?

It did, especially this year. As a woman conductor, I have been riding on this wave for a long time – and it's great that we get a lot of chances and attention – but I just felt at this moment that while yes, I'm grateful, at the same time, I'm going to own this. I'm definitely humbled, but I'm also going to do it with such pride because it helps the next person. Great conductors like Marin Alsop who came before me carved the path for someone like me to be able to stand there. I definitely now have this feeling of, ‘No more apologies, no excuses, no more blocking myself,’ because there's something bigger than me, there’s this mission. If I haven't seen people before me who are exactly like me, then I'll be the first one.

'I'm an artist who likes to make my own story of a piece, and really avoid autopilot' © Simon Pauly

This will be your third Proms performance – what are you most excited about returning to the festival this summer?

Alongside the Royal Albert Hall itself, absolutely the audience and the atmosphere. That is just something so unique to the Proms. I have been to the Proms myself as an audience member at the top Gallery, standing in the arena, sitting in the stalls and in a box, and I had so much fun. Having done all that, I'm now on the other side, giving people that experience.

Standing on that stage you really feel like a rock star. People are right there with you, you can see their faces, you can see them cheering for you, you can hear everything, it is just exhilarating. I don't think any other stage in the world can give you that as a performer. I love everything about it, even people talking, coughing – go ahead because we want people to react! Of course, when it's sold out, you get this tension, everyone is really with you and that's magic. I had that last year, and at my debut as well – there are these moments that give you goosebumps and you know people felt something. It’s something I look forward to so much.

The programme places Beethoven’s Fifth and Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks alongside Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto and a world premiere from Ben Nobuto – what effect are you hoping this will have on audiences?

What could be more iconic? I mean Beethoven’s Fifth is one of the pieces that humankind sent to space!

It’s quite a bang, this programme. On paper it sounds at first so traditional and not dramatic, but when I looked further into it, I discovered it’s actually more like a box full of fun toys and it’s really up to me how to present it, how to how to make them come alive.

I'm an artist who likes to make my own story of a piece, and really avoid autopilot. When I get an audience like the Proms audience I want to shock them, I want to take them with me – in Beethoven Five, for example – from the beginning right to the end, from darkness to light, from anger to triumph. I want to give that journey to everyone, from people who have never been to a classical concert to someone who knows every note and can tell me all the history. Across this spectrum of people, everyone can take something out of it, and Beethoven’s Fifth is definitely one of those pieces that can do that. It's so powerful.

Then of course you have Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor, which is a new piece to me. I really look forward to working with Isata Kanneh-Mason on it because she has such a musical take on it and she does it with such confidence and so much conviction. In a piece like this when it's not so known, you need an interpreter like this. Clara could have been amazing if she lived nowadays so I'm really grateful to shed light on someone like this on an occasion like the First Night. For me, to finally get to do Clara Schumann is like finding a rare jewel.

The programme opens with Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks, which is such a classic. I have to find a way to actually get the right balance because it can be so bombastic, so to really get the right feeling of being so festive and such a party while still having some elegance is a challenge that I need to take care of. There are so many elements people can take from this programme, it reaches everyone in different ways. That’s what the Proms is – you don’t need to like the whole story, the whole programme, but everyone can find something that they like.

Then you get to the Bruckner, we're in the Bruckner year and his Psalm 150 showcases who he is as a composer. Of course, we can’t forget the premiere of a new piece by Ben Nobuto. It's such a wild card and we were worried about how to blend in his signature element of electronics. We wanted to make it more human, so Ben will do the electronics live on stage as part of the orchestra to make the electronics breathe as well.

'This jet-setting thing is fun, but I want to get my hands into something that really stays' © Sisi Burn

Your bio describes your conducting style as ‘the embodiment of the principle that less is more’ – can you expand on this ethos?

My most important inspiration or mentor was Bernard Haitink. He was that embodiment of ‘less is more’ because he had such knowledge and such a technique that everything wass shown in the hands, in the eyes, he could somehow bring everyone with him. Of course, I can only dream to have maybe 10% of that and I hope as I go on, I can develop this quality, but really, I think this thing about ‘less is more’ really comes from him. I can't do it exactly how he did it, but really in the rehearsal process, in the music-making, there's no bullsh*t.

It’s always a problem when the egos come in, then it really becomes something else. That's something I learned from Haitink as well. When he conducted, I almost forgot that he was there, especially with his Bruckner or Mahler near the end of his life, it really felt like you could completely enjoy the music. You could feel something greater has happened, and he sort of took away himself in the process. This is something I aspire to; you really surf the process of unfolding the night, of unfolding the music.

I'm still young but we have all gone through a lot recently, and the world right now is quite crazy. We can express so much in music, and I think that's needed at this time. I've also got to a point where I just don't want to waste time trying to impress people anymore. I think it's an effect of coming out of the pandemic, when we all had to reflect, recalibrate, and find what we really want. With work, if I'm not the right person for as project, so be it, I will find my people. This is liberating, because then people immediately know; this is what you get, this is who I am. Let's work.

I've heard this so many times, everyone says conducting is a lifelong lesson of learning of how to ‘let go’, but it’s really true. I won the Donatella Flick almost exactly a decade ago but I'm still young in this process – Herbert Blomstedt is still going strong at 97! However, that distilling and taking away the things that don’t work helps me really get closer to what is important. It's a work in progress.

'In the rehearsal process, in the music-making, there's no bullsh*t' © Simon Pauly

You were the first woman to win the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition and the first woman (and youngest person) to be chief conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra. With so many ‘firsts’ under your belt do you think you’ll ever stop needing to be a trailblazer?

I have to laugh because I'm still the only woman to win the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition at this point, a decade later. That idea gets me a bit impatient because of course, change really takes time and we are such a giant business, we are really making some steps and we're moving, but we can move faster in ways that are sustainable.

It's a dilemma, because it’s great to be first but then there are moments that I get tired of being the only one. If I can be that first, I'm honoured, and I will rock it the best I can, but then someone needs to take the torch because that's the purpose of having a first. I look forward to the day I can look back and see many of us.

I think we are in a generation where we cannot be afraid to ask, and actually it's the time now for women, for people who had not had those chances before, to do so. Society is open and more ready than before, we just have to have the courage to keep asking.

You step down from your role with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra at the end of the 2023-2024 season – what’s next for you?

For me it's like Monopoly, I now have the chance card. I'm very excited to do my first opera (Le Nozze de Figaro in Bern in January 2026). It's something I've never had time to do before and I’ve wanted to do the right way, going to the Opera House to see the whole production grow from zero to the premiere, and that process actually takes a good two or three months. Opera conducting is completely different, but I sang a lot when I was young and I grew up in choirs, so it's something I just want to be around again. I love drama too, I love good stories so it’s something I just want to dive into and then I can figure out if this is something for me.

Even though now, of course, I'm open for any opportunities and there are a lot of job openings, with many orchestras looking for conductors, I want a place in the end to build things, to get to know people. This jet-setting thing is fun, but I want to get my hands into something that really stays, that’s not a sandcastle that will get washed away. I also want to continue to develop relationships with orchestras that I work well with and with soloists as well. I want to find my people. That makes everything more meaningful.

It's such a wild ride and this whole career is really like a roller coaster, the highs are really high and you have to be careful not to lose yourself. Coming out of the pandemic, I almost felt like we came back at 200% because we felt like we needed to make up for the things we lost. Now that the audience is back and there's a great hunger for life experience it’s great, but at the same time I'm asking myself, ‘How can I give that and not burn myself out? Do I still want to be on the road 29 days a month?’ It was fun early on but now, three or four years later, for myself I find that that's not for me. It’s about getting to choose what is good and healthy for me so that I can give what I want to give on the podium.

It's difficult to protect because our business demands a lot, but it’s important to hold onto what you believe and what works for you. I'm at the place now where I'm very happy that I can say ‘no’ and it's great, I don’t feel guilty for that.