Han-Na Chang

Born in South Korea on December 23, 1982, Han-Na Chang began her professional path as a cellist before establishing herself as a conductor, a role she currently holds as chief conductor of Norway’s Trondheim Symphony. A native of Suwon in Gyeonggi-do province, she first encountered music through piano lessons at age three, then took up the cello at six. Her family relocated to the United States in 1993 to allow her entry into the Juilliard School’s pre-college division in New York, where Aldo Parisot served as her instructor; she also received private tuition from Mischa Maisky in Italy. The next year she competed at the Rostropovich International Cello Competition in Paris, hoping to encounter Mstislav Rostropovich, who remained actively involved in the event. She captured first prize along with the special contemporary music award, drawing enthusiastic praise from Rostropovich, who subsequently invited her to collaborate in performance and recording projects. Her EMI debut arrived in 1995, with Rostropovich leading the London Symphony Orchestra in works by Tchaikovsky and Saint-Saëns; the release ranked among that year’s strongest sellers. She went on to record further for EMI while continuing lessons with Rostropovich and completed a general studies degree at Harvard University, concentrating in philosophy. Once her academic work ended, conducting began to draw her attention, prompting study with James DePreist, a Juilliard conducting instructor. She made her podium debut in Korea in 2007 and two years later launched the Absolute Classic Festival in her home province of Gyeonggi, where she remains artistic director. Conducting gradually supplanted her cello activities. In 2012 she led the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the Philharmonia Orchestra, and she also appeared as guest conductor with the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, which appointed her music director later that year. She stepped down abruptly in 2014 after a BBC Proms appearance in London, attributing the decision to “persistent administrative difficulties and irreconcilable artistic differences with the management.” Although the full circumstances stayed private, Chang indicated that “the woman conductor issue” had not posed significant obstacles during her time in Qatar. Already serving as principal guest conductor of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, she was elevated to chief conductor in September 2014, with her contract later extended through 2023.