Photo by Manuel Bärwald © 2023
David Chin is the founder and Artistic Director of Bachfest Malaysia, and the conductor of the award-winning Malaysia Bach Festival Singers and Orchestra. He was named as a Senior Fellow of Bach-Archiv Leipzig in 2022, and became the fourth person to receive this honorary title since the founding of the institution in 1950. He is currently a long-term Visiting Professor of Music at Augustana University in the United States, where he directs the Bach Cantata Series, conducts various ensembles, and teaches music history.
Upcoming engagement highlights include conducting multiple performances of Beethoven’s Missa solemnis on a concert tour in major cities throughout East Malaysia, and leading the Malaysia Bach Festival Singers and Orchestra on a concert tour to Germany, where they will perform several Bach cantatas and motets at the St. Thomas Church during the international Bachfest Leipzig, as well as several other Bach landmarks.
David has led choirs and orchestras around the world in numerous major works by composers ranging from the Renaissance era to the 21st century, and in world-premieres, a capella to choral-orchestral works, and standard repertoire to vocal jazz and Broadway musicals. He has performed and taught throughout the United States and Malaysia, as well as in Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, and Italy.
Also a versatile keyboardist, David has received awards for his performances as a concerto soloist on both harpsichord and piano. In 2022, David performed as harpsichordist in a collaboration with Ton Koopman at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, and has also played the organ for concerts presented by the Arnstadt Bach Choir, Capella Arnestati, and the Ukrainian Youth Symphony Orchestra.
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Besides maintaining a vibrant performing career, David is equally active in the fields of education and musicology. In October, he will present a talk at the Performers(’) Present International Artistic Research Symposium hosted by Yong Siew Toh Conservatory in Singapore. He has also presented lectures and masterclasses at UCSI University in Malaysia and Silpakron University in Thailand. David translated renowned Bach scholar Michael Maul’s Bach: A Pictorial Biography from German into Chinese. In the same year, he presented his paper Bach in the Far East at the American Bach Society in Philadelphia, which will be published in the upcoming issue of Bach Perspectives. He was also commissioned by Bach-Archiv Leipzig to produce the Chinese version of the largest Bach database website (jsbach.de). In 2020, David produced Encountering Bach, a documentary film on the life and music of J.S. Bach, which was filmed exclusively in Germany. It is available in both English and Mandarin versions, and has drawn a large viewership from across the globe. He is currently on the music committee of the National Chinese Independent High Schools in Malaysia, where he serves as an editor of their music textbook, and trains music teachers throughout the nation.
He has served as Director of Choral Activities and Music Professor at multiple universities in the United States, and his conducting students have been admitted to graduate programs at prominent institutions 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. He has led multiple concert tours, directed high school choral festivals, conducted choirs and orchestras of all levels, and taught courses on conducting, voice, music history, music theory, ear-training, and music appreciation.
He has served as Director of Choral Activities and Music Professor at multiple universities in the United States, and his conducting students have been admitted to graduate programs at prominent institutions 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. He has led multiple concert tours, directed high school choral festivals, conducted choirs and orchestras of all levels, and taught courses on conducting, voice, music history, music theory, ear-training, and music appreciation.
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David was the Artistic Director of the Hong Kong Bach Festival from 2013-2017, the Artistic Director of East Malaysia Bach Cantata Singers and Orchestra from 2014-2018, the Principal Conductor of the Association of Toronto Chinese Evangelical Church Musicians in Canada from 2015-2019, and the Music Director of the Chinese Choral Society of Rochester from 2011-2014. He also recently served on the music faculty at Sunway University in Malaysia. Additionally, he was 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.
David conducted the inaugural East Malaysia Bach Cantata Lecture Concert Tour from 2015-2018, and became the first conductor to introduce Bach’s music to major cities throughout East Malaysia (Borneo). In 2013, he initiated an annual concert series featuring Bach cantatas, which has now grown to four presentations per year and has included ten different conductors at the Eastman School of Music. He was also invited to conduct the Bach Cantata Lecture Concert Series organized by A&O Company in Hong Kong and Yin Qi Choir in Malaysia. In addition, David has conducted the Twin Ports Choral Project in Minnesota, Duluth, the collaborative concerts of Madrigalia and Musica Spei in New York, and performances of the Kuala Lumpur City Opera Company in Malaysia. David has prepared choruses for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in multiple concerts. He has been a regular conductor and lecturer at the International Christian Choral Conductor Society since 2012, and was appointed to teach and perform at the World Sacred Music Conferences in New Zealand, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
David conducted the inaugural East Malaysia Bach Cantata Lecture Concert Tour from 2015-2018, and became the first conductor to introduce Bach’s music to major cities throughout East Malaysia (Borneo). In 2013, he initiated an annual concert series featuring Bach cantatas, which has now grown to four presentations per year and has included ten different conductors at the Eastman School of Music. He was also invited to conduct the Bach Cantata Lecture Concert Series organized by A&O Company in Hong Kong and Yin Qi Choir in Malaysia. In addition, David has conducted the Twin Ports Choral Project in Minnesota, Duluth, the collaborative concerts of Madrigalia and Musica Spei in New York, and performances of the Kuala Lumpur City Opera Company in Malaysia. David has prepared choruses for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in multiple concerts. He has been a regular conductor and lecturer at the International Christian Choral Conductor Society since 2012, and was appointed to teach and perform at the World Sacred Music Conferences in New Zealand, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
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David's enthusiasm for Bach's music has led him to conduct multiple performances of the Mass in B minor, Magnificat, St. Matthew Passion, and St. John Passion, often leading from the harpsichord, as well as over three dozens of sacred cantatas, and numerous Orchestral Suites, Brandenburg Concertos, and motets. He has also conducted performances of Allegri’s Miserere, 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, and part songs; Saint-Saëns' Oratorio de Noël, Stravinsky's Mass, Rutter's Gloria, Fauré's Requiem, Poulenc's Mass in G, Finzi's In terra pax, MacMillan's Miserere, and music by Schütz, Tallis, Palestrina, Gabrieli, Albinoni, Hassler, Telemann, Duruflé, Sibelius, Bruckner, Vaughan Williams, Barber, Chilcott, Distler, Thompson, Holst, Finzi, Kodály, Lauridsen, Stopford, Forrest, Runestadt, and other composers, as well as world premieres of several commissioned works. David has also conducted multiple performances of the world’s longest running musical: Claude-Michel Schönberg’s Les Misérables, and directed several vocal jazz concerts featuring works by monumental jazz icons such as Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, and others. David was invited to play the harpsichord in recent performances of Bach's Mass in B minor and St. John Passion by the Voices Chamber Choir and Orchestra in New York and the East Malaysia Sacred Music Festival. He has also performed numerous major piano solo works by Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, and Debussy, and appeared frequently in vocal and instrumental recitals as a collaborative pianist.
Over the years, David has 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, magazines, and newspapers in Asia, North America, and Europe. As an enthusiastic church musician, David has served Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, and Anglican churches around the world. He 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, motets, and anthems from the Renaissance, Baroque, and twentieth-century in the weekly Office of Compline.
David studied conducting with renowned conductor and pedagogue William Weinert, who has been his mentor since 2010. Additionally, he has also studied under Helmuth Rilling, Simon Carrington, Ann Howard Jones, Craig Arnold, Bradley Lubman, and Cleusía Gonçalves. His piano coaches included pianist Daisy de Lucca (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 studied conducting with renowned conductor and pedagogue William Weinert, who has been his mentor since 2010. Additionally, he has also studied under Helmuth Rilling, Simon Carrington, Ann Howard Jones, Craig Arnold, Bradley Lubman, and Cleusía Gonçalves. His piano coaches included pianist Daisy de Lucca (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 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 the US News and World Report as the finest in the United States and the world. While at Eastman, David conducted the Eastman Chorale, Eastman Philharmonia, Eastman School Symphony Orchestra, Eastman Repertory Singers, Eastman Bach Ensemble, Eastman-Rochester Chorus, and served as the pianist of the Eastman Women's Chorus. He was awarded the prestigious Harvey Fellowship by the Mustard Seed Foundation in 2015, and the Burton Fellowship Awards for German Studies in Germany in 2017. David holds Bachelor of Music degree (Magna Cum Laude) in Choral and Piano Performance from Liberty University, and was awarded both "Outstanding Music Student of the Year" and "Outstanding Keyboard Student of the Year" upon graduation. 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. David began his music education at the age of nine, and successfully obtained an associate diploma in piano performance (ATCL) from Trinity College London in 2004. His motto is Philippians 4:13.
