Carolyn Kuan is a Taiwanese-American conductor acclaimed for her versatile repertory, which spans orchestral, operatic, and ballet works from the classical canon to contemporary music. She leads with precision, insight, and vitality, earning recognition for her interpretive clarity and her ability to inspire musicians and engage audiences. In 2011, she became the first woman and first Asian American appointed Music Director of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in Connecticut.

Carolyn has collaborated with leading orchestras across North America, including the Baltimore, Detroit, Milwaukee, Omaha, San Francisco, Seattle, Louisville, and Toronto Symphonies, as well as performing with the New York City Ballet, Colorado Music Festival, Glimmerglass Opera Festival, New York City Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Washington National Opera. Her recent engagements have included debuts with the Columbus Symphony, Singapore Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, Portland Opera, and the English National Opera, where she conducted Philip Glass’ Satyagraha.

Internationally, she has led the Bournemouth Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, National Symphony of Taiwan, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Residentie Orkest, Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic, Orquesta Sinfónica de Yucatán, Royal Danish Ballet, West Australian Symphony, and Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo. Highlights of her operatic work include premieres of Huang Ruo’s M Butterfly and Dr. Sun Yat-sen, Philip Glass’ The Trial, Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas, Mark Campbell’s Stonewall at New York City Opera, and Scott Wheeler’s Naga as part of the Ouroboros Trilogy. In 2025, she will lead the world premiere of Huang Ruo’s Monkey King at San Francisco Opera.

Carolyn’s work with Asian music and contemporary repertoire has been central to her career. She conducted the San Francisco Symphony’s annual Chinese New Year concert from 2007 to 2012 and helped launch the Seattle Symphony’s Celebrate Asia! program. She has led world premieres for Music from Japan and multimedia productions such as the Butterfly Lovers Concerto and A Monkey’s Tale with the Detroit Symphony’s World Music Series. Many of her projects address cultural and social themes, including the multimedia project Life: A Journey Through Time, which has been presented at the Ninth World Wilderness Congress, the Detroit Symphony’s Change Is Powerful festival, and CERN’s Large Hadron Collider inauguration.

Her previous positions include Associate Conductor of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Artist-in-Residence at the New York City Ballet, and Assistant Conductor for the Baltimore Opera. In 2012, she recorded her debut album with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra for Naxos, featuring works by Chinese composers. Carolyn has received numerous awards, including the Herbert von Karajan Conducting Fellowship, the first Taki Concordia Fellowship, and honors from the Women’s Philharmonic, the Conductors Guild, and the Susan W. Rose Fund for Music.

The 2025–26 season highlights Carolyn’s growing international profile. She will make her German debut with the Rheinische Philharmonie Koblenz, return to the Toronto Symphony, Berkeley Symphony, and American Composers Orchestra, and reunite with the New York City Ballet. These engagements reflect her ongoing commitment to artistic excellence and innovative programming.

Born in Taiwan, Carolyn left her homeland at the age of 14 to study in the United States. She graduated cum laude from Smith College, earned a Master of Music from the University of Illinois, and received a Performance Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory.