# Hana Cai Dependent Lecturer ![Hana Cai](/sites/g/files/omnuum12086/files/styles/hwp_4_5__320x400/public/2025-08/Hana%20Cai.jpeg?h=5eec41be&itok=QJX8-pWw) email Known for her elegant conducting style and efficient and engaging approach to rehearsals, Dr. Hana J. Cai is a conductor and music director based in Lexington, MA. She is currently on faculty at Harvard University serving as the Associate Director of Choral Activities and Director of the Holden Voice Program. She formerly served on the faculties of Lehigh University and Ithaca College. Cai has enjoyed an eclectic career as a conductor, pianist, and singer. In March 2019, Cai was the winner of the ACDA Conducting Competition in Kansas City, MO. She has presented her research on tokenism at the Indiana Choral Director's Association and the ACDA Central and North Central Division Conference in Milwaukee, WI. In fall of 2023, she was one of the invited presenters for the National Collegiate Choral Organization conference at Morehouse College and was a finalist for the American Prize Dale Warland Award in Choral Conducting that same year. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2024, conducting Mozart's *Coronation Mass* with the New York City Chamber Orchestra. During her time in Rochester, she made her Canadian debut in January 2017 with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and the Elora Singers as one of the five conductors selected to participate in the Choral Conductors' Symposium. At Indiana University, she was one of three conductors selected to assist with preparing the chorus for a performance of the Penderecki *St. Luke Passion* where the composer was in attendance. She also served as the associate chorus master for the university premiere of Mason Bates' *The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs* and Wagner's *Parsifal* for the Indiana University Bicentennial. At Harvard, she conducted the world premiere of the opera *American Jezebel: The Trial of Anne Hutchinson* by James Kallembach and recently celebrated the Radcliffe Choral Society's 125th Anniversary, featuring world premieres by Chen Yi and Dale Trumbore. Cai's classical approach to teaching music, theatricality, and keyboard ability have also made her a popular music director with amateur and professional theaters alike. A dedicated educator, Cai has worked in many local area high schools and community theaters, including for the historic Prince George’s and the Delaware Children’s Theaters. In Philadelphia, Cai served as a music director, accompanist, and vocal coach in the Department of Theater at Temple University, including for the acclaimed production of *Hair*. In Bloomington, she served as the music director for *The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee* with Indiana University Summer Theatre and the assistant music director under Lawrence Yurman for *Stardust Road* as part of the Indiana University Bicentennial, directed by Susan H. Schulman. Other projects include *The Christians, Beauty and the Beast*, and Disney's *Newsies* for Cardinal Stage, Bloomington's professional theater company. Cai holds a BM in piano performance and a BA in Chinese from the University of Maryland, College Park, an MM in conducting from the Eastman School of Music, and a DM in choral conducting at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Her diction guide for Mandarin Chinese for singers and conductors is published in The Choral Scholar and American Choral Review. - ## Person Categories [Faculty](/person-categories/faculty)