Lan Shui (, born 1957) is an American conductor. He was the Music Director of the

Singapore Symphony Orchestra The Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Singapore. Its principal concert venue is the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. The orchestra also gives concerts at the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, and performs ...

from 1997 to 2019. He has retired as Music Director on 26 January 2019, and was given the title of Conductor Laureate by chairman of the SSO Mr Goh Yew Lin. Born in

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, Shui is the son of a doctor and a banker. He began his musical studies on violin, but the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

interrupted his violin studies, and a subsequent football injury ended his dreams of becoming a violinist. At the

Central Conservatory of Music The Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM; ) is the national music academy of China, located in Beijing. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education. The academy is part of Project 211 and the Double First-Class Construction. Overview Fo ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, he focused on conducting and composition, and worked regularly with the

Beijing Symphony Orchestra Beijing Symphony Orchestra (Simplified Chinese: 北京交响乐团), founded in 1977, is a symphony orchestra in based in Beijing, China. One of its best-known performances was an unfolding of Chinese history and culture performed at Badaling in t ...

. He continued his musical studies in the US at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

and

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue and Music festival, festival in the towns of Lenox, Massachusetts, Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony ...

, where his instructors included Michael Charry, David Hoose, and classes at Tanglewood with

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

. He served as an assistant conductor with the

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore SO has its principal residence at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where it performs more than 130 concerts a year. In 2005, ...

, and associate conductor with the

Detroit Symphony Orchestra The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall (Detroit, Michigan), Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown, Detroit, ...

. Choo Hoey invited Shui to the

(SSO) in 1993. Shui succeeded Hoey as music director in 1997. His work in contemporary music has included leading the world premiere of Bernard Tan's Violin Concerto in January 2006, with the orchestra's leader

Lynnette Seah Lynnette Seah Mei Tsing (Chinese language, Chinese: 佘美幸; pinyin: Shé Měixìng, born 1957) is a Singaporean violinist. She retired after 41 years at the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) in 2019. She was awarded the Cultural Medallion f ...

as soloist. With the SSO, Shui has made commercial recordings for the BIS label. From 2007 to 2015, he was chief conductor of the Copenhagen Philharmonic. He was formerly principal guest conductor of the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra. He also appears semi-regularly with the

National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra The National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra (NTSO; ), founded in 1945, is the oldest symphony orchestra in Taiwan. It is based in Wufeng District, Wufeng, Taichung. Conductors Principal Guest Conductor * Lan Shui (首席客席指揮:水藍), 201 ...

Accolades

Shui is the recipient of several international awards, including the Boston University's Distinguished Alumni Award. He also received the

Cultural Medallion The Cultural Medallion () is a cultural award in Singapore conferred to those who have achieved artistic excellence in dance, theatre, Literature of Singapore, literature, Music of Singapore, music, photography, art and Cinema of Singapore, film ...

in 2009 in recognition of his work for the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

Personal life

Shui is a permanent resident of Singapore. Shui has been married twice. He has a son from his first marriage, and a son from his second marriage.

References

External links

Harrison Parrott agency biography of Lan Shui
Living people 1957 births Chinese conductors (music) Musicians from Hangzhou Chinese emigrants to the United States Boston University alumni Prize-winners of the International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors Recipients of the Cultural Medallion 21st-century conductors (music) {{classical-musician-stub