The Greensboro Symphony Orchestra has named Christopher Dragon, left, as music director and Chelsea Tipton, right, as principal guest conductor, starting with the 2024-25 season.
The Greensboro Symphony Orchestra in North Carolina has announced two new appointments: Christopher Dragon as music director and Chelsea Tipton as principal guest conductor.
Christopher Dragon is currently resident conductor of the Colorado Symphony and music director of the Wyoming Symphony, posts he will retain when he begins at Greensboro in the 2024-25 season. Hailing from Perth, Australia, with parents originating in Singapore, Dragon’s career began with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. Dragon has worked with major orchestras in the U.S. and internationally, among them the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Utah Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, San Diego Symphony, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and the WDR Funkhausorchester. In Australia, he has guest conducted the Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and West Australian Symphony Orchestras. He began his conducting studies in 2011 and was a member of the Symphony Services International Conductor Development Program in Australia.
As the Greensboro Symphony’s principal guest conductor, Chelsea Tipton will lead several POPS and Masterworks concerts. A Greensboro native, Tipton is currently music director of the Symphony of Southeast Texas and principal pops conductor of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. Tipton has led orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. In 2011, Tipton led Sting’s international tour. Tipton earned a Master of Music degree in orchestral conducting from Northern Illinois University and a Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance from the Eastman School of Music with additional studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Committed to arts education, he mentors college students with aspirations in classical music
