Amelia Chan, Concertmaster

photo credit: Mike Winland Studios

Amelia Chan currently holds the position of Concertmaster at the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and first violinist of the orchestra's ensemble-in-residence, the Montclaire String Quartet.  

An avid chamber musician, she has collaborated with performers such as Lara St. John, Kyung Sun Lee, Peter Bruns, Erica Raum, the Whitman Quartet, members of the Vienna and New York Philharmonic, and the Jupiter Chamber Players (NY); appearing at the Costa Rica Music Festival, the Guatemala Music Festival, the Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival (NY), the New Jersey Chamber Music Society, among others. She has appeared in performances at different venues in the US such as the Roerich Museum (NY), the music series at the Frick Museum (NY), and the Pierpont Morgan Library (NY).  She was also invited by Carnegie Hall to record for their educational website.   

As a soloist, she has appeared with the International Virtuosi Orchestra on tour in Central America , the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra (NY), the Brooklyn Symphony (NY), the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra (WV), and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Orchestra on tour in Europe .  

Amelia has been heard on WQXR, New York ; WQED, Pittsburgh ; West Virginia Public Radio (WV); the Scottish Radio , Scotland ; and Radio 4, Hong Kong . Other festival performances include the Pan Pacific Music Festival (Australia), the Luxembourg Strings Festival, the Pacific Music Festival (Japan), the Lyric Mountain Festival (PA), and the Aberdeen International Youth Festival (Scotland).  Concert performances have taken her all over North, Central and South America , Asia , Europe , and Australasia .  

As Concertmaster, Amelia has worked with eminent conductors such as Kurt Masur, Zednek Macal, Julius Rudel, Jorge Mester, Michael Tilson Thomas, Graziella Contratto, Manfred Huss, Anton Coppola, Gunther Schuller, George Manahan, Elizabeth Schultz, and the late Sergiu Commissiona. She also performed regularly with the New York Philharmonic, both locally and on tour internationally.

Having been born in a musical family in Hong Kong , Amelia began her education on the piano at home with her father John Chan. She was accepted to the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts junior department on a full scholarship as a piano major. She then began studying the violin, with Alice Waten as her major teacher. Amelia received her Bachelor's degree in Violin Performance from the Mannes College of Music (NY), and her Master's degree and Professional Studies diploma from the Manhattan School of Music (NY) Orchestral Program as a Whitaker Scholar, where she worked with Glenn Dicterow, Sheryl Staples, Yoko Takebe, and Lisa Kim.

Amelia plays on a violin made by Luthier Stefan Bauni.