Elim Chan was born in Hong Kong and studied at Smith College and the University of Michigan. She took part in the Bruno Walter Conducting Scholarship in 2013 and also took master classes with Bernard Haitink in Lucerne in 2015. Elim was the first woman to win the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition in 2014, thanks to which she was appointed assistant conductor to the London Symphony Orchestra during the 2015-2016 season; the following season she was part of the Dudamel Fellowship programme at the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She has been principal conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra since 2019 and was also principal guest conductor with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra from 2018-2023. Elim has already made her debuts with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Wiener Symphoniker and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.