Eugene pulls new music director out of the Pitts
mainThe Eugene Symphony have just announced Francesco Lecce-Chong as the new chief, chosen from 250 applicants.
He starts in July, succeeding Danail Rachev, who has been there for eight years.
Francesco Lecce-Chong is assistant conductor at the Pittsburgh Symphony.
A very welcome change…he did an AMAZING job when he conducted the orchestra in March.
Good choice. Very talented young conductor.
Can you really “apply” for an MD gig? Did Muti “apply” for Chicago?
In the U.S., for orchestras at the regional level (those below the budgets of, say, the big 10), applicants are asked to…well…apply. Usually an announcement of the opening is sent out a year or two before the post becomes vacant. The applicants are winnowed down to, usually, a group of finalists who each conduct a concert during the “conductor search” season. From this group, one is selected to be the MD. This is the most common version of the process, but some exceptions can occur in specific cases.
A big win for both Francesco and OR. His time in Milwaukee was quite successful and much appreciated. It didn’t hurt that he was around for practically every rehearsal and concert w Edo de Waart. But FLC earned this, and in this business it’s great (and extremely rare) to observe an upward trajectory of a conducting career for all the right reasons.