UCLA Symphony Spring 2026

Chinese-born conductor Gan Xiong has led orchestras including the Case Western Reserve University Orchestra (Cleveland, OH), Tokyo Sinfonia, UCLA Symphony, Miami Music Festival Orchestra, and Bacâu Philharmonic Orchestra (Romania), and has conducted student productions of musicals including “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” and “Dear Evan Hansen.” He has led youth orchestras in Shanghai including the Huangpu District Youth Orchestra and Shanghai Kite Youth Orchestra, where he served as faculty in a Baroque summer camp session and conducted its final concert in 2019.

Also a vocalist, Gan was a member of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus from 2021 to 2022, where he participated in a recording of Shostakovich Symphony No. 3 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He holds a bachelor’s in vocal performance from Case Western Reserve University and a master’s in orchestral conducting from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee. His teachers have included Kathleen Horvath, Bruce Hangen, Charles Gambetta, and Ovidiu Balan; he has participated in masterclasses with Mark Gibson, Arthur Fagen, Apo Hsu, Robert Ryker, and John Farrer. He currently pursues a doctoral degree in orchestral conducting at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, studying with Neal Stulberg.

Oliver Chan is a conductor, pianist, harpsichordist, and organist. He earned Bachelor of Arts and Master of Music degrees in piano performance at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, where he studied with Walter Ponce. He then received a Master of Music degree in orchestral conducting at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music of Cal State Long Beach, where he studied with Johannes Müller Stosch. Chan currently pursues his doctoral degree in orchestral conducting at UCLA with Neal Stulberg. Other conducting teachers have included Dean Anderson, Jacob Sustaita, Edward Dolbashian, Andreas Mitisek, Mark Gibson, Neil Varon, and Kenneth Kiesler. Chan is currently music director of the Los Angeles-based opera company Opera Italia and staff accompanist at UCLA and Santa Monica College. In November 2025, he served as assistant conductor of Opera UCLA’s production of Benjamin Britten’s “The Turn of the Screw.”

Praised by the Los Angeles Opus for his “liquid sensitivity,” “formidable power,” and “discreet exactitude,” pianist Lukasz Yoder has performed throughout North America and Europe. A Grand Prize Winner of the Lansum International Music Festival, he is a top prizewinner of numerous national and international competitions, including the Beverly Hills National Auditions, the Claudette Sorel International Piano Competition, Classics Alive National Auditions, Kosciuszko Foundation National Chopin Competition, Hartford International Chopin Competition, Glendale Piano Competition, MTNA, CAPMT State Finals, and Kathryn Gawartin Chopin Competition.

His performances have taken him to venues including Zipper Hall at the Colburn School, the Polish Embassy in Washington, D.C., the Steinway Society of Puerto Rico, the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York City, and historic venues throughout Poland, including the Działyński Palace, White Hall of Poznań, and Żelazowa Wola, the birthplace of Frédéric Chopin. In addition to performing, Lukasz curates a Southern California concert series dedicated to bringing classical music to new audiences. His debut album with Malibu View Records is currently in production.

Lukasz is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music under the guidance of Inna Faliks. In addition to his formal studies, Lukasz has benefited from the artistic mentorship of Garrick Ohlsson, Dina Yoffe, Edward Wolanin, and his mother, Roza Yoder, who guided his earliest musical development.