For most audiences, it is rare to have the chance to see a conductor's face directly during a performance. Even the musicians on stage seldom get to know what happens behind the scenes — the conductor's preparation process, educational journey, and everyday life.

To offer a closer look, the Conducting Division of the School of Music proudly presents the "Meet the Maestro" series of academic events. This ongoing program will regularly welcome distinguished conductors from China and around the world, engaging the public through masterclasses, special lectures, open rehearsals, and experience-sharing sessions. From multiple perspectives, audiences will gain a deeper, more vivid, and authentic understanding of how each conductor thinks, makes decisions, and finds inspiration — both on the podium and in life.

Since its launch, the Conducting Division's "Meet the Maestro" series has brought together twelve outstanding conductors from across the globe — from the intimacy of choral music to the majesty of the symphonic repertoire — for deep, heartfelt conversations about the art of conducting. These rare close-up encounters have uncovered the techniques and artistic vision behind timeless masterpieces, letting the stage and classroom shine together in full brilliance.

The 13th edition of the series welcomes internationally acclaimed conductor Dane Lam — Music and Artistic Director of the Hawai'i Symphony Orchestra, Artistic Director of State Opera South Australia, and Principal Conductor of the Xi'an Symphony Orchestra. Through four symphonic masterworks, Maestro Lam will lead immersive, hands-on sessions and share his wealth of stage experience and distinctive artistic insight with our students, faculty, and audience — promising an inspiring and unforgettable artistic journey.

【Date&Time】

 Sep. 11, 2025 (Thur.) 4:30PM 
 

【Venue】

Rehearsal Hall 701, Music Practice Complex

School of Music, CUHK-Shenzhen

【Maestro】

Maestro Dane Lam

【Collaborative Pianists】

Jie SONG, Xiaoyu XU, Mo HAN, Yi LIU

【Programme】

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)

Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21

I. Adagio molto- Allegro con brio

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)

Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92

II. Allegretto

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)

Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93

I. Allegro vivace e con brio

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)

Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56a

*Programme is subject to change.

Admission Free.

Please scan QR code to register.

*Once the registration is submitted, it will be considered successful. No separate confirmation will be sent; please stay informed of event updates. Please present event poster at entrance for campus access.

【Notice】

*Children under 1.2m are not admitted

【Maestro】

Dane Lam

Dane Lam, an Australian-Chinese-Singaporean conductor, is known for performances that unite precision with passion and for a rare ability to lead across borders — musically, geographically, and institutionally. He works in opera and orchestral music with equal fluency and has built a career defined not only by international reach but by the artistic and civic renewal he brings to the organizations he serves.

He is currently Music and Artistic Director of the Hawai'i Symphony Orchestra, Artistic Director of State Opera South Australia, and Principal Conductor of the Xi'an Symphony Orchestra. Few conductors lead major ensembles on three continents — and even fewer do so while commissioning new work, expanding audiences, and strengthening cultural identity in each place.

In Hawai'i, Dane has led a resurgence of the Symphony's role in civic life. Since his appointment in 2023, he has introduced televised concerts, launched the HapaSymphony series blending classical and Hawaiian music, expanded audiences to record levels, and commissioned new works from across the Pacific alongside core repertoire in his Masterworks program. In 2024–25, he led the first complete Beethoven Symphony Cycle in the orchestra's 125-year history — grounding each concert in the present by pairing Beethoven with composers of the Pacific Rim, including a world première by Ye Xiaogang. His programming places Beethoven beside local legends, and new voices beside overlooked ones — such as Honolulu-born composer Dai-Keong Lee (1915–2005), whose music he has brought back to the stage after decades of neglect.

In Adelaide, he is reimagining State Opera South Australia as a globally connected company rooted in local voice. His seasons pair standard repertoire with new operas by Missy Mazzoli, Nardi Simpson, and Jonathan Dove, and visionary co-productions with companies including Scottish Opera, San Francisco Opera, Canadian Opera Company, and Irish National Opera. He made his mainstage debut as Artistic Director in 2024 with Così fan tutte, and returns in 2025 with a new Magic Flute co-produced by SOSA, Opera Hong Kong, and the Beijing Music Festival — the first-ever Australia–China opera co-production — and the world première season of SOSA–Irish National–West Australian Opera's Roméo et Juliette.

In China, Dane has served as Principal Conductor of the Xi'an Symphony Orchestra since 2014, helping to transform the ensemble into one of the nation's most artistically vibrant and financially secure. Under his leadership, the orchestra has welcomed José Carreras, Midori, Stephen Hough, and Barry Douglas; launched Xi'an's first full-scale opera productions; and presented its inaugural Beethoven, Brahms, and Mahler symphony cycles. The 2016 televised Mid-Autumn Festival Gala, featuring the Xi'an Symphony, reached a global audience of over one billion.

During 2020–2021, Dane served as Resident Conductor and Associate Music Director of Opera Queensland — the first titled conductor in the company's history — and was a leading figure in Australia's post-pandemic cultural revival. As early as August 2020, he conducted the first full-capacity orchestral concert in the world post-lockdown with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, followed by concerts with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Opera Queensland, and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra's first season back post-pandemic in 2021. His leadership during this period helped reopen concert halls and restore live music-making at a time of global uncertainty.

Opera has always been central to Dane's work. He has conducted more than thirty productions with companies including Opera Australia, Scottish Opera, Opera Queensland, West Australian Opera, Opera Holland Park, and Hawai'i Opera Theatre. He is particularly in demand for his interpretations of Mozart's operas, praised for their dramatic clarity and musical cohesion. His repertoire also spans Puccini, Verdi, Mascagni, Cilea, and Gluck, as well as contemporary composers like Carl Davis and Will Todd. He is especially admired for drawing emotionally detailed performances from both singers and orchestras.

As a symphonic guest conductor, he has led orchestras across Europe, Asia, and Australasia, including the Munich Radio Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, City of London Sinfonia, Residentie Orkest The Hague, Beethoven Orchester Bonn, and the Verbier Festival Orchestra. In the Asia-Pacific region, he has conducted the symphony orchestras of Beijing, Suzhou, Kunming, and Dunedin, as well as all major Australian state orchestras. His Beethoven performances are noted for their immediacy and visceral energy, and in Hawai'i, he is currently leading a multi-year Mahler Cycle, bringing out the vivid modernity and emotional range of that composer's sound world.

After undergraduate studies at the University of Queensland, Dane studied conducting at The Juilliard School under James DePreist, supported by a full scholarship, and later at the Royal Northern College of Music with Sir Mark Elder. He was assistant to Kurt Masur at the Orchestre National de France and a protégé of Gianluigi Gelmetti, under whose mentorship he worked during the maestro's tenures at the Sydney Symphony and Teatro dell'Opera di Roma.

Whether conducting Mahler or Mozart, in Waikīkī, Xi'an, or Adelaide, Dane Lam doesn't just build concerts — he builds bridges: between cultures and communities, between artists and audiences, and between what music has been and what it still can be for listeners today.