Conductor

Dr. Jiannan Cheng is the Director of Orchestral Activities at Rowan University and Music Director of the Greater Princeton Youth Orchestra. Prior to joining the music faculty at Rowan, she served as Director of Orchestral Ensembles at Fordham University, and Adjunct Professor in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music.

Dr. Cheng’s professional conducting career has included operatic and symphonic appearances with the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, Stuttgart Philharmonic, Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini, the Georgian Chamber Orchestra Ingolstadt, and Munich Chamber Orchestra. Dr. Cheng was a recipient for the 2017 German Conductors’ Award, and second prize winner of the 4x4 Competition for Composers and Conductors. Her teachers and mentors include the world-renowned conductors Riccardo Muti, Kurt Masur, and Marcus Bosch, to whom she served as an assistant in Heidenheim, Germany. Beginning this season, Dr. Cheng has been selected to serve as a Cover Conductor with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Other past professional positions include Conducting Fellow of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and the Miami Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Cheng completed her undergraduate studies at the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She earned her Master’s degree from the University of Washington in Seattle, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music.