In Sunday’s (11/6) Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Jim Higgins writes, “Before he discovered that he wanted to conduct an orchestra, Francesco Lecce-Chong was well on his way to being the orchestra. He studied piano as a boy in Boulder, Colo., then added violin lessons. At violin camp, he took up composing; being a composer, he felt he had to learn wind instruments, so he began learning clarinet.’ Lecce-Chong’s youth orchestra conductor ‘realized that he wanted to do everything,’ Lecce-Chong said, and put him to work coaching sections of younger musicians. Then one day, she asked him to lead a rehearsal of the middle school orchestra. ‘I’ll never forget it,’ he said. ‘This is the moment’ is the feeling he came away with, the first taste of his future vocation. Local audiences will have many opportunities to hear Lecce-Chong, 24, over the next few years. As the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s new assistant conductor, he’ll conduct many of its education and community concerts. Excited about his talent, the MSO also has given him a big spotlight this week: He’ll conduct a gala concert featuring pianist Joyce Yang on Wednesday at the Marcus Center’s Uihlein Hall. … When the MSO interviewed and auditioned finalists for the post, Lecce-Chong stood out in every aspect of the process, which included a musical talk to children, a preconcert lecture and a turn leading a rehearsal.”
Posted November 8, 2011
