Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra’s director quits during BBC Proms

The Korean cellist Han-Na Chang has quit amid reports of clashes with the fledgling orchestra's management.

Han-Na Chang. Sheila Rock / EMI Classics

The musical director who took Qatar’s fledgling orchestra to the BBC Proms has quit, less than 24 hours after its triumphant debut at the festival in London. The shock departure of Han-Na Chang, the star cellist hired a year ago to transform the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra (QPO) into a world-class ensemble, came amid reports of clashes with its management. The Korean musician says she resigned because of “persistent administrative difficulties and irreconcilable artistic differences with the management of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra”.

She adds: “It is a very sad day for me. Just over a year ago I was honoured to take up this position. At that time I made clear my belief that the QPO could become an international ensemble of excellence and I have had the privilege of seeing that belief vindicated through the skill, hard work and commitment of this wonderful group of players, culminating in the orchestra’s debut at the Proms.” It was Chang’s persistence that ensured the QPO won a place at the Proms, a 120-year-old British event and the biggest date on the classical-music calendar.

It is rare for young orchestras to be invited to play in the Royal Albert Hall in London. Sources say Chang was unhappy that her hard work to secure a spot was not met with the same fanfare in Qatar as it was abroad. The QPO was launched in 2007 by Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned.

Chang, 31, a former child prodigy, joined as its musical director in September last year and spoke to The National last week about fine-tuning individual performances until the musicians could hold their own against more established orchestras. She conducted at the Proms on Sunday, a performance described as "outstanding" by the classical-music website Backtrack. She did not conduct when the orchestra performed the same three pieces – by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Behzad Ranjbaran – in Rome yesterday. She was replaced by the Russian conductor Dmitrij Kitajenko. The orchestra's executive director Kurt Meister said: "We would like to thank Han-Na Chang for her work with the orchestra and wish her the best for the future."