Auditorium Theatre 2019-20 Issue 1 Get Out

ABOUT CHICAGO SINFONIETTA SEPTEMBER 21, 2019 | GET OUT WITH CHICAGO SINFONIETTA | 3 About Jim Hirsch About Mei-Ann Chen Jim Hirsch has served as CEO of Chicago Sinfonietta since August 2004. During his tenure at the Sinfonietta, the organization’s budget has increased by over 85% and programming has expanded in important new directions. Prior to his work at Chicago Sinfonietta, Hirsch served as Executive Director of the Chicago Association for the Performing Arts, manager and program- mer of the Chicago Theatre, and as the Executive Director of the Old Town School of Folk Music. Hirsch has served as a grants panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, the Illinois and Oregon Arts Councils, and as a member of NARAS (Grammy) Awards and Nominations committee. He produced a nationally-syndicated radio program for NPR and has released three commercial recordings. Hirsch was chosen by Crain’s Chicago Business for their annual 40 Under 40 list, which honors Chicago’s up-and-coming business executives under 40 years of age, in 1991 and was named Chicago Arts Entrepreneur of the Year in 1996 by Columbia College. In 1998, he was chosen as one of Chicago Magazine’s Chicagoans of the Year. In 2011, Hirsch received a Midwest/Chicago Emmy Award for Best Arts and Culture Documentary as co-producer of Chicago Sinfonietta: Sounds of Diversity . He was selected by Musical America as a 2017 Mover and Shaper. He is currently helping to facilitate a conversation with orchestras around the country about diversity, inclusion, and equity through his work with the League of American Orchestras. Innovation, imagination, passion, and dynamism are the hallmarks of conduc- tor Mei-Ann Chen. As the Music Director of the MacArthur Award-winning Chicago Sinfonietta since 2011, and Artistic Director & Conductor for the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra Summer Festival since 2016, Chen is acclaimed for infusing orchestras with energy, enthusiasm, and high-lev- el music-making, and galvanizing audiences and communities alike. A sought-after guest conductor, Chen’s reputation as a compelling communica- tor has resulted in growing popularity with orchestras globally. North American guesting credits include appearances with the Symphony Orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Chicago, Detroit, Fort Worth, Houston, Indianapolis, Oregon, River Oaks Chamber, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, and Vancouver. Overseas engagements include the BBC Scottish Symphony; Denmark’s National, Aalborg, Aarhus, and Odense Symphonies; Sweden’s Gävle, Gothenburg, Helsingborg, Malmö, and Norrköping Symphonies; Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra at the Concertgebouw; Norwegian Radio; Trondheim, Finland’s Tampere Philharmonic; Austria’s Grosses Orchester Graz; Germany’s Badische Staatskapelle Karlsruhe; Brazil’s São Paulo Symphony Orchestra; and the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra. Future engagements include debuts with Copenhagen Philharmonic in Denmark, Würth Philharmonic Orchestra in Germany, Oslo Philharmonic in Norway, and the symphony orchestras of Residentie in the Netherlands, Basel in Switzerland, and Bilkent in Turkey, and multiple returns to the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra and the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, among others. Her honors and awards include being named one of Musical America’s 2015 Top 30 Influencers and receiving the 2012 Helen M. Thompson Award from the League of American Orchestras. She was also the First Prize Winner of Copenhagen’s 2005 Malko Competition. Chen also holds the title of Conductor Laureate of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.