Alexander Chen is a Taiwanese-American conductor and cellist based in Chicago, IL. He currently serves as the Graduate Assistant Conductor of Northwestern University Symphony and Chamber Orchestras. He is also the Assistant Conductor of Northwestern University Contemporary Music Ensemble and Northwestern Philharmonia. Prior to his time in Evanston, Chen led and performed with the Carnegie Mellon All-University Orchestra as Assistant Conductor from 2017 to 2020 in Pittsburgh, PA. During this time, he also led as the Music Director of the All-University Chamber Orchestra. Most recently, Chen served as cover conductor for Thompson St. Theatre Company’s 2022 premieres of Nicole Murphy’s Kamikaze Mind and Joshua Brown’s Would You Eat Me? Chen’s 2019 season saw summer performances at Wintergreen Music Academy, where he studied with Victor Yampolsky and premiered compositions by American composers Austin Williams and Michael Laster. Later that fall he conducted the Carnegie Mellon Chamber Orchestra in a performance of Pergolesi’s “Stabat Mater” and Copland’s “Appalachian Spring.” That same year would see him as a featured conductor in various masterclasses, conducting Beethoven Symphony No. 7 with Carl Topilow and Brahms Symphony No. 3 with Marin Alsop. In December of that year, Chen assisted Marand Thakar and the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra. Chen is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree in orchestral conducting at Northwestern University, studying under the tutelage of Donald Schleicher and previously, Victor Yampolsky. He completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University, where he studied conducting with Daniel Nesta Curtis and cello with David Premo. Previous mentors include Hai-Ye Ni, Andrés Cárdenes, Jennifer Jin, and Richard Amoroso. He was the 2019 recipient of the Harry G. Archer Prize with a performance of the Schumann Cello Concerto.