David Chin, DMA

Biography 

Praised for conducting “a first-class concert” by Germany’s leading newspaper Leipziger Volkszeitung, Dr. David Chin is an internationally active conductor, educator, speaker and cultural entrepreneur. Since 2023, he has served on the faculty of the Augustana University School of Music, where he teaches Conducting, Music Theory and Music History, as well as directs the Augustana Bach Collegium and Bach Cantata Series.

A passionate advocate for the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Chin founded Bachfest Malaysia and the award-winning Malaysia Bach Festival Singers and Orchestra in 2015. Most recently, he led the ensemble on a highly acclaimed tour of Germany. Since its inception, Bachfest Malaysia has grown into Asia’s first Bach festival and a vibrant cultural beacon, advancing Malaysia’s classical music ecosystem through major concert productions, international tours, and scholarly publications.

In 2022, Chin was appointed senior fellow of the Bach-Archiv Leipzig, becoming only the fourth individual to receive this distinction since 1950. This rare honor affirms his standing as one of world's leading Bach scholars and interpreters.

As a conductor, he has led performances of major works by composers spanning from the Renaissance to the 21st century. His repertoire includes everything from world premieres and a cappella pieces to choral-orchestral masterworks, as well as vocal jazz and Broadway musicals. A leading interpreter of J.S. Bach, he has conducted all of Bach’s major vocal and instrumental works, including the Passions, the complete motet cycle, orchestral suites and concertos, and more than 50 cantatas.

His musical engagements have brought him to the United States, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong, Mainland China, New Zealand, Canada, Austria, Germany and Italy, where he has performed, taught and collaborated with musicians across diverse cultural and professional backgrounds. Recent highlights include Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Malaysia Bach Festival Singers and Orchestra; a concert tour of Beethoven’s Missa solemnis in Borneo; Bach secular cantatas with the CPE Bach Choir Hamburg and Barruco Wien at the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg; Bach Vespers in New York City; appearances with Emmanuel Music in Boston; and the St. John Passion and Mass in B minor with the Augustana Bach Collegium.

Beyond the podium, Chin regularly serves on jury panels for international choral competitions and is a sought-after speaker at international conferences. His scholarly contributions include several books and the documentary Encountering Bach, filmed in Germany and now the most-viewed Bach documentary online. He was recently commissioned to present the Mandarin version of the Bach-Archiv Leipzig’s Virtual Bach Experience, for which he also served as the voice of Bach in the augmented reality (AR) recital. He is also the Chinese translator of the Bach database website (jsbach.de), as well as Michael Maul’s Bach: A Pictorial Biography. His book, Bach Ostinato: A Double Fugue in Music and Philosophy, co-authored with Professor Alex Tseng, has recently been published by Shanghai People’s Publishing House.

Prior to serving at Augustana University, Chin has served as director of choral activities and professor at universities in the United States and Malaysia, and his conducting students have been admitted to some of the top graduate programs in the nation.

Chin holds master’s and doctoral degrees in conducting from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied on full scholarship. He is a recipient of the Harvey Fellowship and Burton Fellowship for German Studies.

His personal motto is Philippians 4:12–13.