Monica Chen

An emerging Canadian conductor, Monica Chen is the RBC Assistant Conductor of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra as well as Music Director of the University of Manitoba Symphony Orchestra and Sistema Winnipeg program, working closely with Maestros Daniel Raiskin and Julian Pellicano. Since the start of her appointment, Monica has conducted over 60 performances with the WSO spanning genres of pops, movies, community and ballet. She is also a regular guest conductor working with orchestras and opera companies across the country. Recent and upcoming conducting engagements include working with Calgary Philharmonic, Victoria Symphony, Kamloops Symphony, Manitoba Underground Opera, Saskatoon Symphony and Regina Symphony. Also equally versed in opera, recent opera productions include conducting Britten’s Albert Herring, Mozart’s Magic Flute, and Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel. This season, she returned to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet as guest conductor, conducting a second run of shows of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker with the Winnipeg Symphony. She was selected to be a conducting fellow in the inaugural year of Orchestre Métropolitain’s Conducting Academy, and has worked with Yannick Nézet-Séguin for three seasons, and is currently a conducting fellow with Tapestry Opera’s Year 3 Cohort. Last summer, she attended the Tanglewood Music Centre’s 2024 Conducting Seminar, working closely with Stefan Asbury. She has had the honour to work with acclaimed conductors such as maestros Neil Varon, Thomas Rösner, and the late Bramwell Tovey.

Monica completed two Masters, one in Orchestral Conducting from UBC studying with Dr. Jonathan Girard and the other in violin performance from Indiana University studying with Mimi Zweig.