Lan Shui

Education

Born in China, Shui started as a violinist and eventually studied conducting at Boston University in the mid-1980s, first with Michael Charry and later with David Hoose.

Career

He made his professional conducting debut with the Central Philharmonic Orchestra in Beijing in 1986 and was later appointed Conductor of the Beijing Symphony. In 1990 he conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic"s Summer Festival, where he came to the attention of David Zinman who invited him to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra as Conducting Affiliate in 1992. In the same period he assisted Kurt Masur at the New York Philharmonic and conducted the Cleveland Orchestra in Paris as part of Boulez"s young conductors" project

Orchestras he has conducted include the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Gothenburg Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Malm・Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Tampere Philharmonic, the Stuttgart Radio Symphony, the North German Radio Symphony (NDR, Hamburg), the Frankfurter Opernund Museumsorchester, the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony, the Bern Symphony, the Bamberg Symphony, the Copenhagen Philharmonic, the Komische Oper Orchestra, and the Thessaloniki Symphony.

Shui has also worked with violinists Pinchas Zukerman, Gil Shaham, Maxim Vengerov, Hilary Hahn, Lynnette Seah, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianists Elisabeth Leonskaja, Gerhard Oppitz, Yefim Bronfman and Rudolf Buchbinder. Shui has performed at festivals including Tanglewood, Aspen, Bravo! Vail Valley, Round Top, Eastern Music, National Orchestra Institute, and Casals Festival.

Since he joined the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in 1997, the Orchestra has signed an exclusive recording contract with the international label Bank for International Settlements. Shui has led the Orchestra on several successful tours. In support of Asian-influenced works, Lan Shui is also passionate about premiering and commissioning new works.

The Singaporean composer Bernard Tan"s Violin Concerto was premiered in January 2006 with Lynnette Seah as soloist.

Achievements

• Shui is the recipient of several international awards, amongst them kudos from the Beijing Arts Festival, New York Tcherepnin Society, 37th Besançon Conductors Competition in France and Boston University"s Distinguished Alumni Award. He also received the Cultural Medallion in 2009 in recognition of his work for the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.