Known for his charismatic personality and energetic conducting, David Chin has swiftly emerged as one of the rising conductors and musical leaders in the new generation of globe-trotting musicians. His recent performance of Bach’s Harpsichord Concerto in D major won him the 16th BOH Cameronian Arts Awards for Best Solo Performance. He is the founder and Artistic Director of Bachfest Malaysia, and the conductor of the Malaysia Bach Festival Singers and Orchestra since 2015. He served as the Artistic Director of the Hong Kong Bach Festival from 2013-2017, and the East Malaysia Bach Cantata Singers and Orchestra from 2014-2018. He was the Principal Conductor of the Association of Toronto Chinese Evangelical Church Musicians in Canada from 2015-2019. He is currently a music faculty at the School of Arts at Sunway University, where he teaches advance theory, conducting, and conduct the orchestra. He served as the as the Assistant Professor of Choral Music at University of Minnesota, Duluth from 2018-2019, Visiting Artist and Professor in Choral Music at Bucknell University in Spring 2018, and the Director of Choral Activities at Roberts Wesleyan College from 2012-2017. He was the Music Director of the Chinese Choral Society of Rochester from 2011-2014.

David conducted the inaugural East Malaysia Bach Cantata Lecture Concert Tour, and became the first conductor to introduce Bach’s music to major cities throughout East Malaysia (Borneo). In West Malaysia, David founded the Malaysia Bach Festival in 2015 and they have performed major works and cantatas by Bach, as well as commissioned a new composition by a Malaysian composer. Additionally, David and the Malaysia Bach Festival Singers and Orchestra have also been invited to perform multiple chorale cantatas at Bachfest Leipzig, as well as collaboration concerts with the Thuringer Bach Collegium at Arnstadt and Eisenach, Germany. David conducted the inaugural concert of the Eastman School Bach Cantata Series in 2013 and continued to conduct the series season opening concerts for the next three years. In addition, David has also been invited to conduct the Bach Cantata Lecture Concert Series organized by A&O Company in Hong Kong and Yin Qi Choir in Malaysia, the collaborative concerts of Madrigalia and Musica Spei in New York, and performances of the Kuala Lumpur City Opera Company in Malaysia. He has prepared choruses for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in multiple performances. David serves as a regular conductor and lecturer at the International Christian Choral Conductor Society and Malaysia Gospel Culture Center, and was appointed to teach at the World Sacred Music Conferences in New Zealand, Indonesia, and Malaysia. 

Photo by Taka Chang

As a professor, David has led multiple concert tours, directed high school choral festivals, and taught courses on conducting, music history, ear-training, and music appreciation. David's conducting students have been admitted to graduate programs at prominent institutions such as the Westminster Choir College, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music, Georgia State University, University of Tennessee, and University of Connecticut, to name a few. 
​
David's recent performance highlights include conducting performances of Allegri’s  Miserere,  Bach's Mass in B minor, Magnificat,  St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, several Orchestral Suites, Brandenburg Concertos, and motets, as well as over two dozens of sacred cantatas; Handel's Messiah, Utretch Te Deum & Jubilate, Ode for St. Cecilia's Day, and several​Coronation and Chandos Anthems; Vivaldi's Gloria, Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, Haydn's Symphony No. 94 'Surprise', The Creation, Te Deum in C, Theresienmesse,​ Nelsonmesse, Nicolaimesse, and Kleine Orgelmesse;  Mozart's Vesperae solennes de confessore and Missa brevis; Schubert's Mass No. 2 in G, Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 2 ‘Lobgesang’ and Hear My Prayer; Brahms'   Vier Gesänge,  Op. 17 and  part  songs;   Saint - Saëns's  Oratorio de Noël, Op. 12, Stravinsky's Mass, Rutter's Gloria, ​Fauré's Requiem, Poulenc's Mass in G, Finzi's In terra pax, MacMillan's Miserere, and selections by Tallis, Palestrina, Gabrieli, Albinoni, Hassler, Telemann, Duruflé, Sibelius, Bruckner, Vaughan Williams, Barber, Chilcott, Thompson, Holst, Finzi, Kodály, Lauridsen, Stopford, and other composers. David had also conducted multiple performances of the world’s longest running musical: Claude-Michel Schönberg’s Les Misérables. He recently played the harpsichord in performances of Bach's Mass in B minor with the Voices Chamber Choir and Orchestra in Western New York and the East Malaysia Sacred Music Festival. He also performed piano solo works by Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, and Debussy.

Over the years, David had directed numerous choirs and orchestras, and collaborated with outstanding musicians from all around the world. His live performances of J.S. Bach's cantatas and passion have been aired by more than 50 radio stations across the United States, and his original sacred piano arrangements have been broadcast on the International Television Program. He has also been featured on various radio stations and newspapers in Asia, North America, and Europe. An enthusiastic church musician, he has served Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, and Congregational churches around the world. David had won awards in original compositions for chorus and orchestra, piano solo, and piano concerto. David was a member of the renowned Schola Cantorum at Christ Church in Rochester, New York from 2011-2014, where they perform Gregorian Chant, choral improvisations, and motets from the Renaissance, Baroque, and twentieth-century in the weekly Office of Compline. David has been mentored by renowned conductors William Weinert, Helmuth Rilling, Simon Carrington, Ann Howard Jones, Craig Arnold, Bradley Lubman, and Cleusía Gonçalves. His piano coaches included pianist Daisy de Lucca Jaffè (pupil of Magda Tagliaferro, Fredriech Gulda, Richard Hauser, and Guido Agosti) and David Ehrman; his voice coaches included Raymond Gibbs (former Metropolitan Opera House tenor), Kathryn Cowdrick, and Wayne Kompelien. 
 
David holds both the Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees from the Eastman School of Music, where he was the recipient of the Charles W. Kennett Scholarship and the Herman Genhart Choral Conducting Scholar Award, in addition to full scholarship to pursue both degrees. The graduate programs in conducting at Eastman have repeatedly been ranked by US News and World Report as the finest in the country. While at Eastman, he conducted the Eastman Chorale, Eastman Philharmonia, Eastman School Symphony Orchestra, Eastman Repertory Singers, Eastman Bach Soloists, Eastman-Rochester Chorus, and served as the accompanist of the Eastman Women's Chorus. David has recently been awarded the prestigious Harvey Fellowship by the Mustard Seed Foundation. David holds Bachelor of Music degree (Magna Cum Laude) in Choral and Piano Performance from Liberty University and was awarded both Outstanding Music Student and Keyboard Student of the Year. While at Liberty, he conducted the Timothy International Student Chorale and Liberty Chamber Singers. In addition, he was also the winner of the concerto competition and appeared as a soloist at the Honors Recital. He began his music education at the age of nine and he successfully obtained an associate diploma in piano performance (ATCL) from Trinity College London in 2004. Philippians 4:13. 

"David has an uncommon dedication to his field… he consistently goes above and beyond what is required in every way. His attention to detail and consistent musical creativity set him apart from other masters students I have taught over the past thirty years.”  - William Weinert

Photo by Eric Kinney

Copyright © 2016 by David Chin