The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has announced that ANDRÉS FRANCO and FRANCESCO LECCE-CHONG have been named assistant conductors, effective with the start of the 2015-16 season.
Andrés Franco is music director of the Signature Symphony, professional resident orchestra of Tulsa (Ariz.) Community College; artistic director of the Fort Worth (Tex.) Symphony Orchestra’s Concerts in the Garden summer festival; and principal conductor of Caminos del Inka, a multimedia project showcasing the music and culture of countries along the Inca Trail in South America. A native of Colombia, he holds a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from Bogotá’s Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, and received master’s degrees in piano performance and conducting from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.
Francesco Lecce-Chong recently completed four years as associate conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. He is currently associate conductor of Wyoming’s Grand Teton Music Festival, a post he will retain while serving in Pittsburgh. Lecce-Chong began conducting at age sixteen in his native Boulder, Colo., received a bachelor’s degree in piano and orchestral conducting from Mannes College The New School for Music, and holds a diploma in conducting from the Curtis Institute of Music. In Pittsburgh he will serve as music director of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra in addition to his post as PSO assistant conductor.
Posted June 23, 2015
