About

Labeled a “rising star” within the conducting world (Anwar Nasir, Associated Press), Conductor Chelsea Gallo has been praised for her ability to “lead the orchestra with grace and fiery command” (Schubring, Michigan Daily.) Her conducting style has been described as “fully in control… stylish, skillful and attentive” (Scott Cantrell, Dallas News.) 

For the 2023-25 seasons, Gallo will be Resident Conductor of The Florida Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, and a Cover Conductor with the New York Philharmonic. Past positions include Assistant Conductor of the Louisiana Philharmonic, Conducting Fellow with the Dallas Opera, and Conducting Staff for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.  As a guest conductor, Gallo has conducted the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, North Carolina Symphony Orchestra, Sarasota Orchestra, Missouri Symphony, Bridgeport Symphony, Jackson Symphony Orchestra, Lancaster Symphony, Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, Toledo Symphony, the Hartford Opera, Opera Orlando, Marigny Opera, Opera Orlando, Slovak Sinfonietta, amongst others. 2023-24 debuts include the Bozeman Symphony Orchestra, Sewanee Music Festival,  and Catapult Opera (NYC). She is a 2022 Award Recipient of the prestigious George Solti Foundation USA Career Fellowship. 

An advocate of music by living composers, Gallo gave the Michigan premiere of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s  Helix, the American premiere of Michael Gordon’s Bassoon Concerto, and the world premiere of the ballet A Streetcar Named Desire by Tucker Fuller. She has also conducted works by Adolphus Hailstork, Carlos Simon, Courtney Bryant, Jessie Montgomery, Jennifer Higdon, Clarice Assad, and more. As an opera conductor, she has conducted productions of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni, Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Giuseppi Verdi’s La Traviata, and Shuying Li’s Who Married Star Husbands. 

Devoted to expanding the reach of Classical Music, Gallo has collaborated with a variety of organizations, businesses, and companies. Some of these entities include The Walt Disney Company (™), The New York Yankees (™), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Lincoln Motor Company (™), amongst others. Gallo has described her conducting pursuits as “a devotion to sharing the relevancy and humanity within Classical Music.” 

Gallo studied conducting in Vienna, Prague, and Banská Štiavnica with Leoš Svárovský and the late Maksimilijan Cenčić. In Vienna, she studied piano with Giorgi Latsabidze and violin with Barbara Gorzynska. Gallo holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Michigan where she was awarded the Helen Wu Graduate Fellowship in Conducting studying with Kenneth Kiesler. Furthering her conducting education, she has attended festivals and masterclasses with conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle and Daniel Barenboim.