Catapulted to international attention at the age of 11 as the winner of the Fifth Rostropovich International Cello Competition in 1994, the list of her notable supporters soon grew to include such significant figures in the music world as Mariss Jansons, Riccardo Muti, Giuseppe Sinopoli and Antonio Pappano as well as Mstislav Rostropovich himself. Now turning her focus more and more to the podium she has upcoming conducting engagements at the Philharmonia Orchestra, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra del Teatro di San Carlo di Napoli. She has also made documentary series on the Beethoven Symphonies for MBC TV in Korea.

Han-Na Chang is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Absolute Classic Festival in South Korea, which takes place every year in August. Under her leadership the Festival Orchestra has gained a reputation for fresh interpretation and passionate performance. With the dual aims of bringing classical music to a wider audience and giving young orchestral musicians throughout Korea and Asia the opportunity to experience core works in the symphonic canon, Chang’s abounding appetite for repertoire has seen her programme – since 2009 - the complete Beethoven symphonies and major orchestral works by Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Schubert, Shostakovich, Berlioz, Prokofiev and Richard Strauss. The festival is already recognised throughout the region as a benchmark in bringing classical music to wider audiences. After her first visit to the Bayerisches Landesjugendorchester in January 2011, she was invited to be the first Artistic Director in their 37-year history. She will return to the orchestra each year beginning in December 2012.

Han-Na Chang studied Philosophy at Harvard University and currently serves as the Roving Goodwill Ambassador for the Korean Red Cross.