Newly picked Santa Rosa Symphony conductor likes to take risks, have fun

When Francesco Lecce-Chong auditioned for the Santa Rosa Symphony music director post in October, he didn’t set out to impress the musicians.

“All you can do is go in there and be yourself,” the 30-year-old conductor said in a phone interview earlier this week. “You’re simply there to help them make great music. So if you make it about yourself, it’s never going to work. But it still may not work ... and that’s OK.”

Despite being the youngest candidate and the first to audition this season - both potential liabilities - Lecce-Chong, who was born in San Francisco and grew up in Colorado, was chosen earlier this week as the fifth music director of the Santa Rosa Symphony in its 90-year history, succeeding Bruno Ferrandis.

Those involved in the two-year search process say they were struck by the young conductor’s enthusiasm and collaborative spirit, which he demonstrated both on and off the podium. A strong background in education and community outreach seemed to seal the deal.

“We found excellence, passion and dynamic style in his conducting, a background of superior training and broad musical knowledge, genuine sincerity and humility in his personality and a respectful and collaborative interaction with our professional musicians,” said Jim Hinton, Music Director Search Committee chairman.

Suddenly, after spending three years in Pittsburgh as associate conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony and music director of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony, Lecce-Chong (pronounced LECH-ey-chong) has landed with both feet back on the West Coast.

His star has been on the rise. Last spring, he was chosen from 250 applicants as the music director of the Eugene Symphony in Eugene, Oregon, and started conducting there this season. A few months later, he was offered representation from IMG Artists, one of the premier global artist management firms.

This season, the maestro of Italian-Chinese descent has brought new ideas to the Eugene Symphony in an effort to expand access to music and develop more connections among the listeners. In the lobby of the performing arts center, for example, he put up a big white board for the audience to write down their impressions during intermission.

“People should not go to the concerts in spite of 1,000 other people but because of it,” he said. “The energy and the people in the hall affect how we perform ... the listeners are active.”

When Lecce-Chong talks to the audience in Eugene, he likes to focus on their own dialogue, letting them come to their own conclusions rather then telling them what to think. On the podium, he is also interested in drawing musicians into the process.

During his first rehearsal last fall, for example, Santa Rosa Symphony Board of Directors Chairman Jamei Haswell noticed that he would often turn to Concertmaster Joe Edelberg and ask what he thought about a certain approach.

“I don’t think any of the other maestros did that,” she said, referring to the tryouts of the five music director finalists over the course of five months. “Even asking for an opinion was a wonderful thing to do.”

Edelberg, for his part, praised Lecce-Chong for his “inspired and inspiring musicianship, good will and natural leadership.”

“He has many, many ideas about how a symphony orchestra and a community can work together,” he added. “I am excited about working with him.”

Lecce-Chong, who was trained as a pianist and a conductor, said he favors a collaborative approach because the musicians’ personalities are integral to the end result.

“For me, making great music is one of the most important things I do, but it’s also who I make it with,” he said. “It’s taking the energy that’s there - the strengths, weaknesses and personalities - and that all goes into a performance.”

In addition, he likes to invite the musicians to perform a high-wire act with him, pushing their musicianship to the heights of expression while striving to stay spontaneous and in the moment.

“I like my performances to be risky - that’s part of the joy,” he said. “You don’t play it safe in the way you try to express yourself. It’s about saying something so genuine, that sometimes a mistake might happen, but you’re still communicating something important.”

During the Oct. 7 concert, Lecce-Chong broke a baton and suffered a clothing malfunction - his shirt came untucked in front - during a passionate rendition of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4. Keeping his cool, Francesco, playfully shrugged off the glitches, accepting a new baton and leaving his shirt untucked.

“That was my test to see if we could all relax and have fun,” he said. “Can the orchestra laugh it off, and can we have some fun? OK, good.”

Lecce-Chong, who has an apartment in Eugene, plans to establish a second residence in Santa Rosa next summer in advance of the 2019-2020 season, when he will conduct six out of seven concert sets.

For the 2018-2019 season, which were planned by Ferrandis, outgoing music director, he will conduct only three concert sets because of previous guest conducting engagements. When Lecce-Chong was here last fall for his live performance audition, about 40 family members came to the Saturday night concert to serve as his cheering section.

He was scheduled to conduct his final concert on Oct. 9, the day the wildfires tore across large swaths of Sonoma County, drastically altering lives and landscapes. After the concert was canceled, his parents drove up from San Francisco and picked him up, along with guest pianist Joyce Yang, and drove them both back to the city.

Before he left, however, he handed the keys to his hotel room to Haswell, who had lost her home in the early morning hours, and told her that she and her husband could have a place to stay that night.

Despite moving on to other cities and concert venues, the maestro has checked back in regularly with Haswell and others over the past six months as he had trouble getting the natural disaster out of his mind.

“I have never witnessed this kind of devastation before on a personal level,” he said. “It was simply heartbreaking to see all the people who had so warmly welcomed me into their community now displaced and having no idea if their homes had survived.”

As part of his mission in Santa Rosa, the conductor said he hopes to continue to find ways for the symphony to be a part of the city’s rebuilding.

“Music helps us connect with each other,” he said. “It strengthens community through hope, inspiration and connection.”

Staff Writer Diane Peterson can be reached at 707-521-5287 or diane.peterson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @dianepete56.