Biography
Taiwanese-American conductor Tiffany Chang garnered recognition through two Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Awards, the OPERA America Grant for Women Stage Directors and Conductors, and The American Prize in Opera Conducting.
She was recently a guest conductor for the Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and served as cover conductor for Washington National Opera (Macbeth, Grounded). She made conducting debuts at Minnesota Opera (The Song Poet), Portland Opera (Tosca), and Opera Columbus (Tosca). She also held the Elizabeth Buccheri Opera Residency at the Washington National Opera (La bohème) and was invited twice to conduct at The Dallas Opera as part of the Hart Institute for Women Conductors.
Chang was a guest conductor for opera productions at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory (Chérubin), Oberlin Conservatory (The Puppy Episode), and Boston University (Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera, Later the Same Evening). She was previously Music Director/Conductor for the NEMPAC Opera Project where she conducted Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni, Carmen, Fidelio, La Cenerentola, Die Fledermaus, La bohème, and The Little Prince.
Her other guest conducting engagements include Fulton Summer Music Academy Orchestra, BlueWater Chamber Orchestra, OperaHub, College Light Opera Company, Dinosaur Annex New Music Ensemble, ALEA III, Xanthos Ensemble, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, Brookline Symphony Orchestra, Parkway Concert Orchestra, Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, Northern Ohio Youth Orchestras, among others.
Chang advocates for people-first leadership. She optimizes work culture for purpose and growth, creates conditions for musician satisfaction, promotes psychological safety for high performing teams, and leverages people-first leadership for artistic excellence.
She authors a blog called Conductor as CEO, where she takes ideas from other industries and shares how they apply to arts leaders. Her "refreshing and thoughtful" leadership on and off the podium has led her to become an active speaker and contributor for Routledge Press, Leader to Leader, Notes from the Podium, and PM World Journal, Canton Symphony, Girls Who Conduct, Sound Mind, and Boston Conservatory. She’s also been a participant of global leadership development cohorts such as Forefront and the altMBA.
For the first decade of her career, she revolutionized orchestral programs as a conductor at Oberlin Conservatory, Berklee College of Music, Boston University, and Baldwin Wallace Conservatory.
Chang studied orchestral conducting with David Hoose and Bridget-Michaele Reischl; she has also worked with Carlo Montanaro, Emmanuel Villaume, Gustav Meier, JoAnn Falletta, Robert Spano, Gunther Schuller, Larry Rachleff, and Ann Howard Jones. She also studied cello with Amir Eldan, Hans Jensen, and Peter Reijto and composition with Amelia Kaplan and Jeffrey Kowalkowski.
She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in orchestral conducting from Boston University and several degrees from Oberlin Conservatory in cello performance, music education, composition, and music theory.
