Rebecca Chan was born in Melbourne and studied violin with Alice Waten at the Australian National Academy of Music and Sydney Conservatorium and with William Hennessy at Melbourne University, where she also completed degrees in Medicine and Arts.

Now based in London, Rebecca has been Associate Leader of the Philharmonia Orchestra since 2018 and has been invited as guest leader of many other orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, English National Opera, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. She has also been guest principal second violin with the LSO, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Camerata Bern and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

Rebecca was the winner of the string section and Nelly Apt Scholarship in the ABC Young Performers Awards, the ANAM concerto competition and the Australian Concerto and Vocal Competition and was a prizewinner at the International Citta di Brescia Violin Competition. She has played as soloist with a number of orchestras, including the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide, Tasmanian and Canberra Symphony Orchestras, Mikkeli City Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

As a chamber musician, Rebecca has toured Australia, Europe and Asia and played in numerous festivals around the world and in venues such as Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Musikverein in Vienna and Concertgebouw Amsterdam as well as in regular series at the Sydney Opera House and Melbourne Recital Centre. Rebecca was a founding member of the Hamer Quartet (winners of the first prize, the audience prize and Musica Viva award in the 2009 Asia Pacific Chamber Music Competition) and the Australia Piano Quartet. She was a core member and regular guest director of the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra. Rebecca was a core member of the Australian Chamber Orchestra from 2010-2015. She was a member of the Piatti Quartet, prizewinners at the Wigmore International String Quartet Competition from 2020-2023