Philippine Daily Inquirer
Date: September 23, 2019
By:: Antonio C. Hila     

The Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO) has a new conductor and music director—Taiwanese-

American Marlon Chen, former associate conductor of the Baltic Sea Philharmonic, assistant conductor of the MDR (Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk) Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra and assistant conductor of the Orchestre de Paris.

Jeffrey Solares, MSO executive director, made the announcement during the orchestra’s concert last Sept. 1 at the Power Mac Center Spotlight in Circuit Makati.

Chen may be familiar to concertgoers since he has been a guest conductor in the last three seasons of the MSO. Last June, he successfully led the MSO in the 5th Hunge River Bank Symphonic Festival in Shenyang, China. MSO was the only foreign orchestra invited to the festival.

Chen said his vision was to make the MSO a “world-class orchestra.” The musicians have the “heart” and a “resilient attitude,” which are rare musical gifts and necessary to achieve such a vision, he pointed out.    [FULL  STORY]