Equally adept at conducting symphony, opera, and ballet, Judith Yan's career has taken her internationally, conducting for major companies in Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America. She has held Staff Conductor positions at San Francisco Opera, Canadian Opera Company, and National Ballet of Canada.
While with the San Francisco Opera, she served as Staff Conductor, assistant to Maestro Sir Donald Runnicles, where her performances of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress for San Francisco Opera was included in the San Francisco Chronicle’s Top Ten Classical Performances of the Year. Prior to San Francisco Opera, she served as the first Conductor-in-Residence of the Canadian Opera Company, where she made her debut with Britten's Rape of Lucretia. As the Principal Conductor of Opera on the Avalon since 2010, she has lead numerous productions including Ours, Shawnadithit, Tosca, La Boheme, Tosca, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, La Traviata, Albert Herring, and Dead Man Walking.
As a conductor of symphony, she served as the Artistic Director of Guelph Symphony Orchestra for 8 seasons, where she expanded the orchestra’s symphonic and operatic repertoire with works by composers Richard Strauss, Igor Stravinsky, Philip Glass, Francis Poulenc, Leonard Bernstein. Along with new works and premieres, she added operatic repertoire by Puccini, Verdi, Strauss, Humperdinck, and created the unique Triple-Feature “Symphony, Opera, and Ballet” Gala. As a guest conductor, she has collaborated with orchestras such as Auckland Philharmonia in New Zealand, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and Saskatoon Symphony.
As a conductor of ballet, she has conducted over 90 performances at the Four Season’s Centre for the National Ballet of Canada, working with the world’s foremost choreographers including John Neumeier, Ronald Hynd, and James Kuldelka. With National Ballet of Canada and as a guest internationally, she has conducted the ballets of Balanchine, Cranko, Aldous, Bart, Harvey, Kiliàn, Lander, Stowell, Wright, and Grigorovich. Since 2010, she has had a close association with several ballet companies, including Hong Kong Ballet, conducting the company’s production of Swan Lake as well as premiering four of the company’s productions: Cynthia Harvey’s Sleeping Beauty, Terence Kohler’s The Nutcracker, Nina Ananiashvili’s Don Quixote, and the Asian world-premiere of Anna-Marie Holme’s Le Corsaire. She conducted the Polish premiere of Cranko's The Taming of the Shrew in 2015 for Polish National Ballet, at Teatr Wielki in Warsaw.
In 2014, she made her Seoul conducting debut with Korean National Ballet, conducting the Korean Symphony in Yury Grigorovich’s La Bayadère, returning in 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019 to conduct Patrice Bart’s Giselle, Grigorovich’s Swan Lake, and a revival of La Bayadère. She made her Australian conducting debut in 2017 with West Australian Ballet, conducting the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in Lucette Aldous’s Don Quixote, returning in 2018 for the world-premiere of Krzysztof Pastor’s Dracula and 2019 for Greg Horsman's La Bayadère.
A supporter of new works, she has conducted numerous world-premieres, including the critically acclaimed An American Dream by Jack Perla/Jessica Murphy for Seattle Opera, John Estacio’s Ours for Opera on the Avalon, and Krzysztof Pastor’s Dracula for West Australian Ballet. Recent company debuts include National Arts Centre Orchestra for Cynthia Harvey’s Sleeping Beauty, Teatr Wielki in Warsaw for the Polish premiere of Cranko’s The Taming of the Shrew, West Australian Ballet and West Australian Symphony for Lucette Aldous’s Don Quixote, and Yury Grigorovich’s La Bayadère for Korean National Ballet and Korean Symphony.
Recent productions include Don Giovanni and Suor Angelica with Opera Omaha, Madama Butterfly with New Orleans Opera, The Nutcracker (Janes) and An American Dream with Jacobs School of Music Opera and Ballet Theater, The Rape of Lucretia with San Francisco Opera (Merola), Don Quixote with Hong Kong Ballet. Since 2021, she has had a close association with Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, conduction 9 programmes with repertoire ranging from Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, and Dvorak, to Gipps, Richter, and Copland.
Yan’s 25/26 Season includes a concert production of Puccini’s Tosca, programmes of Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky, and Pergolesi Stabat Mater with Saskatoon Symphony, Giselle (Cynthia Harvey) and an Opera/Ballet Gala with Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo, The Nutcracker (Aaron S. Watkin and Arielle Smith) with English National Ballet at the London Coliseum, a return to Jacobs School of Music for a a programme of Janes, Balanchine, and Taylor, and a debut at Opera Grand Rapids with Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. Also in fall of 2026, her performance of Sasha Jane’s The Nutcracker with Jacob’s School of Music will be featured in a PBS documentary by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, Todd Gould.
Photograph by David Howells
While with the San Francisco Opera, she served as Staff Conductor, assistant to Maestro Sir Donald Runnicles, where her performances of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress for San Francisco Opera was included in the San Francisco Chronicle’s Top Ten Classical Performances of the Year. Prior to San Francisco Opera, she served as the first Conductor-in-Residence of the Canadian Opera Company, where she made her debut with Britten's Rape of Lucretia. As the Principal Conductor of Opera on the Avalon since 2010, she has lead numerous productions including Ours, Shawnadithit, Tosca, La Boheme, Tosca, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, La Traviata, Albert Herring, and Dead Man Walking.
As a conductor of symphony, she served as the Artistic Director of Guelph Symphony Orchestra for 8 seasons, where she expanded the orchestra’s symphonic and operatic repertoire with works by composers Richard Strauss, Igor Stravinsky, Philip Glass, Francis Poulenc, Leonard Bernstein. Along with new works and premieres, she added operatic repertoire by Puccini, Verdi, Strauss, Humperdinck, and created the unique Triple-Feature “Symphony, Opera, and Ballet” Gala. As a guest conductor, she has collaborated with orchestras such as Auckland Philharmonia in New Zealand, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and Saskatoon Symphony.
As a conductor of ballet, she has conducted over 90 performances at the Four Season’s Centre for the National Ballet of Canada, working with the world’s foremost choreographers including John Neumeier, Ronald Hynd, and James Kuldelka. With National Ballet of Canada and as a guest internationally, she has conducted the ballets of Balanchine, Cranko, Aldous, Bart, Harvey, Kiliàn, Lander, Stowell, Wright, and Grigorovich. Since 2010, she has had a close association with several ballet companies, including Hong Kong Ballet, conducting the company’s production of Swan Lake as well as premiering four of the company’s productions: Cynthia Harvey’s Sleeping Beauty, Terence Kohler’s The Nutcracker, Nina Ananiashvili’s Don Quixote, and the Asian world-premiere of Anna-Marie Holme’s Le Corsaire. She conducted the Polish premiere of Cranko's The Taming of the Shrew in 2015 for Polish National Ballet, at Teatr Wielki in Warsaw.
In 2014, she made her Seoul conducting debut with Korean National Ballet, conducting the Korean Symphony in Yury Grigorovich’s La Bayadère, returning in 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019 to conduct Patrice Bart’s Giselle, Grigorovich’s Swan Lake, and a revival of La Bayadère. She made her Australian conducting debut in 2017 with West Australian Ballet, conducting the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in Lucette Aldous’s Don Quixote, returning in 2018 for the world-premiere of Krzysztof Pastor’s Dracula and 2019 for Greg Horsman's La Bayadère.
A supporter of new works, she has conducted numerous world-premieres, including the critically acclaimed An American Dream by Jack Perla/Jessica Murphy for Seattle Opera, John Estacio’s Ours for Opera on the Avalon, and Krzysztof Pastor’s Dracula for West Australian Ballet. Recent company debuts include National Arts Centre Orchestra for Cynthia Harvey’s Sleeping Beauty, Teatr Wielki in Warsaw for the Polish premiere of Cranko’s The Taming of the Shrew, West Australian Ballet and West Australian Symphony for Lucette Aldous’s Don Quixote, and Yury Grigorovich’s La Bayadère for Korean National Ballet and Korean Symphony.
Recent productions include Don Giovanni and Suor Angelica with Opera Omaha, Madama Butterfly with New Orleans Opera, The Nutcracker (Janes) and An American Dream with Jacobs School of Music Opera and Ballet Theater, The Rape of Lucretia with San Francisco Opera (Merola), Don Quixote with Hong Kong Ballet. Since 2021, she has had a close association with Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, conduction 9 programmes with repertoire ranging from Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, and Dvorak, to Gipps, Richter, and Copland.
Yan’s 25/26 Season includes a concert production of Puccini’s Tosca, programmes of Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky, and Pergolesi Stabat Mater with Saskatoon Symphony, Giselle (Cynthia Harvey) and an Opera/Ballet Gala with Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo, The Nutcracker (Aaron S. Watkin and Arielle Smith) with English National Ballet at the London Coliseum, a return to Jacobs School of Music for a a programme of Janes, Balanchine, and Taylor, and a debut at Opera Grand Rapids with Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. Also in fall of 2026, her performance of Sasha Jane’s The Nutcracker with Jacob’s School of Music will be featured in a PBS documentary by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, Todd Gould.
Photograph by David Howells