Isaac Chan is a Music student at Clare College, University of Cambridge. He is conductor of the Cambridge University Symphony Orchestra, in his capacity of Conducting Scholar at the Cambridge Centre of Music Performance. He studies conducting with Sian Edwards (Royal Academy of Music).
Isaac has played the French horn from a young age, and attended the Hong the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts (Junior Department) studying with Mr Homer Lee. He has played as principal horn with the Pro Arte Orchestra of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Youth Orchestra and many others. He spent sixth form at Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester, and was awarded the Birchall Memorial Prize for Brass for his work in solo and ensemble playing in 2023.
He is currently principal horn of the flagship Cambridge University Orchestra, and holds an Instrumental Award in the Cambridge University Brass Ensemble. Recent solo engagements include Mozart’s 4th horn concerto (Clare College), Britten’s Serenade (King’s College) and first horn in Schumann’s Konzertstück for 4 horns (Trinity College).
Isaac started his conducting studies with Mr. Ho-Man Choi. During his time at Chetham’s he founded the Chetham’s Camerata and Operetta, a student-led chamber group, with whom he made his debut of Hansel and Gretel in 2022. In 2024, Isaac was Conductor of the Hong Kong Youth Philharmonia, where he made his Hong Kong debut of Mahler’s First Symphony. At Cambridge, Isaac is active in orchestral, operatic and chamber ensemble conducting as Conducting Scholar at Cambridge. He is regularly engaged by Trinity College Music Society to conduct concerts, including Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, Siegfried Idyll, as well as a commemorative mass performance of Faure’s Requiem at the composer’s centenary. He has worked with and been mentored by renowned conductors such as Jac van Steen, Nicolas Pasquet, Grant Llewellyn, Colin Metters, Dominic Wheeler, and Timothy Redmond.
Through conducting Isaac has developed an avid interest in opera. Recently he directed and conducted a re-conception of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni at Clare College Chapel, as well as premiering a new opera The Seashell with the Cambridge University Opera Society. He looks forward to being on the Assistant Conductor programme at the Vienna Opera Academy in 2025.
Isaac is an active repetiteur and collaborative pianist, especially in string and vocal (German and English song in particular) repertoire. He is a pianist on Cambridge University’s flagship Instrumental Award Scheme, where he plays in a piano trio. He is also a pianist on the Sir Arthur Bliss Lieder Scheme, where he is taught by Joseph Middleton. As a former member of the Choir of Clare College Cambridge, Isaac appears frequently as a pianist in their performances and constituent recital series.
Beyond performance, Isaac is a keen scholar of academic music, counting 19th century Germanic (instrumental and vocal) music as his main interest, while also enjoying Italian/French opera studies and intersections between music, literature and philosophy. He is one of very few candidates to be twice-awarded the Donald Wort Prize by Cambridge's Faculty of Music for academic excellence, and was previously awarded Chetham’s Prize in Academic Music upon graduation. In 2024, Isaac was the inaugural speaker of the James Legge Culturati Award Scheme (Hong Kong), and continues to lead seminars on themes of music, art and literature. His musical work has brought in collaboration with Steinway Hall UK, the Cambridge Festival, the Halle Orchestra (Brass section), the William Walton Foundation, and the Liverpool Mozart Orchestra.