Lü Shao-chia (; born 1960) is a Taiwanese conductor. He has been

music director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

of the

National Symphony Orchestra The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930 by cellist Hans Kindler, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The NSO regularly ...

of Taiwan since 2010.

Biography

Born in

Hsinchu Hsinchu (, ), officially Hsinchu City, is a city located in northwestern Taiwan. It is the most populous city in Taiwan that is not a special municipality, with estimated 450,655 inhabitants. Hsinchu is a coastal city bordering the Taiwan ...

, Taiwan, Lü studied piano at an early age. Initiated by Taiwanese conductor Chen Chiu-sen, he later turned to conducting and went on to Indiana University School of Music and Vienna Hochschule für Musik. In 1988, he was accepted in conducting course held by maestro Gennady Rozhdestvensky in Accademia Musicale Chigiana and graduated as the only recipient of Diploma di Honore. In 1991 he graduated from the Vienna Hochschule für Musik with excellence and was honored by the Science Research Department of Austrian government for his achievements. Lü was called in on short notice to replace the ailing

Sergiu Celibidache Sergiu Celibidache (; ; 13 August 1996) was a Romanian people, Romanian Conducting, conductor, composer, musical theorist, and teacher. Educated in his native Romania, and later in Paris and Berlin, Celibidache's career in music spanned over fi ...

for his scheduled concert tour with the Munich Philharmonic in Taiwan. As an opera conductor, Lü was appointed principal conductor of

Komische Oper Berlin The Komische Oper Berlin is a German opera company based in Berlin. The company produces operas, operettas and musicals. The opera house is located on Behrenstraße, near Unter den Linden. Since 2004, the Komische Oper Berlin, along with the Be ...

in 1995. By the time he left the opera house in 1998, he had conducted hundreds of performances of more than 30 operas, which also helped establish his reputation as one of the leading opera conductors of his generation. Starting 1996, Lü was invited to work with

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is a British opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in E ...

, in London, Norway Royal Opera, GöteborgsOperan, in Gothenburg, Opera Australia, in Sydney, La Monnaie, in Brussels, Stuttgart Opera,

Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the ...

, and Hamburgische Staatsoper. Among other orchestras, he has conducted the

Orchestre National de France The Orchestre National de France (; ; abbr. ONF) is a French symphony orchestra based in Paris, founded in 1934. Placed under the administration of the French national radio (named Radio France since 1975), the ONF performs mainly in the Grand ...

, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia,

Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra The Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (German: ''Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR'') was a German radio orchestra based in Stuttgart in Germany. History The ensemble was founded in 1945 by American occupation authorities as the orches ...

, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Norwegian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Lü headed Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonia between 1998 and 2004 as music director and was bestowed 'Peter Cornelius Plakette' by the Cultural Minister of Rheinland for his outstanding contribution in local culture in May 2004. Lü has led the Niedersächsische Staatsoper Hannover as music director from 2001 to 2006. The performance of the opera house was elevated to higher level soon after his arrival and he along with the opera house were named 'Conductor of the Year' and 'Best Opera House of the Year'. Lü won the International Kiril Kondrashin Competition for conductors in 1994 and went on to win International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors (both first prize and Lyre d'Or award) and Pedrotti International Competition for Orchestra Conductors. Lü has been Music Director of the

of Taiwan since 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lu, Shao-Chia 1960 births Living people 21st-century Taiwanese conductors (music) Jacobs School of Music alumni Accademia Musicale Chigiana alumni University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna alumni Prize-winners of the International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors Taiwanese people of Hakka descent People from Hsinchu County Hakka musicians