Francesco Lecce-Chong

American conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong has established himself as a respected leader in the orchestral world through acclaimed performances, innovative projects, and passionate advocacy for the arts. He was appointed Music Director of two US orchestras, the Eugene Symphony and the Santa Rosa Symphony, before age 30. He successfully launched several groundbreaking projects with them, commissioned over a dozen major orchestral works, and built innovative community partnerships. Now, in his seventh season, he has grown the Santa Rosa Symphony’s reputation as one of the most exciting and important regional orchestras in the US, with performances at the world-class Green Music Center. In the 2024-2025 season, Lecce-Chong takes on the role of Artistic Partner with the Eugene Symphony, a new position allowing him to develop his artistic vision further.

Lecce-Chong regularly appears with major orchestras around the country, from the San Francisco Symphony to the New York Philharmonic, collaborating with top soloists such as Renée Fleming and Itzhak Perlman. The San Francisco Chronicle described his subscription debut with the San Francisco Symphony as “first-rate” and pointed out the “vitality and brilliance of the music-making he drew from members of the San Francisco Symphony.” Other recent subscription debuts include the Seattle Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Utah Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Detroit Symphony, and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. In 2023, Lecce-Chong debuted in Europe at the prestigious George Enescu Festival with the Romanian National Radio Orchestra. This led to an immediate return invitation and the establishment of a regular relationship with the orchestra.

Through his leadership, Lecce-Chong has fostered an unparalleled dedication to the future of the orchestral art form through commissions, community initiatives, and arts education. One of his first large-scale endeavors was the “First Symphony Project,” which consisted of major commissions from the next generation of composers across four seasons, complete with multiple residencies in the communities. In less than a decade, he has brought over a dozen major new orchestral works into the repertoire from composers like Pulitzer Prize winner Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Grammy winner Michael Daugherty, Conrad Tao, Clarice Assad, and Gabriella Smith. To keep Santa Rosa Symphony connected to its community during the pandemic, he spearheaded SRS @ Home, which brought live internet performances to thousands of households. Several performances called “Santa Rosa Symphony Presents” were broadcast on local PBS TV, reaching two million viewers. The programming featured over 20 works by living composers and a collaboration with Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, culminating in a 2022 recording of her music conducted by Lecce-Chong on the Delos label, the orchestra’s first CD release.

Lecce-Chong is equally committed to the opera repertoire, having first conducted performances of Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos at age 24 in New York City. He served as staff conductor with the Santa Fe Opera and led performances with the Florentine Opera in Milwaukee. More recently, he led the Eugene Symphony through the most ambitious project in its history: a semi-staged presentation of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. In Santa Rosa, Lecce-Chong conducted and directed Opera in Concert: Mozart’s The Magic Flute, complete with his original dialogue, and partnered with a local arts high school to create a multi-disciplinary experience of the opera.

Trained also as a pianist and composer, Lecce-Chong studied at the Curtis Institute of Music, Mannes College of Music, and Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Italy before winning positions as Associate Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony and Milwaukee Symphony. Lecce-Chong is the recipient of several distinctions, including the prestigious Solti Foundation Award. He has had the privilege of being mentored and supported by renowned conductors, including Bernard Haitink, David Zinman, Edo de Waart, Manfred Honeck, Donald Runnicles, and Michael Tilson Thomas.

Photo by Susan and Neil Silverman Photography