The Life Sciences Orchestra is pleased to announce that Chelsea Gallo has been named the music director for the 2017-2018 season. Like her immediate predecessor Roberto Kalb, she will hold the title of Gilbert S. Omenn, M.D. Music Director, in honor of a generous gift from former U-M Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs Gilbert Omenn and his wife Martha Darling.

The first Life Sciences Orchestra concert will take place on Sunday, January 21 at 8 p.m. in Hill Auditorium.

American conductor Chelsea Gallo is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts at the University of Michigan with Kenneth Kiesler.

Her past conducting engagements include subscription concerts with the Žilina Philharmonic, Slovak Sinfonietta, Jan Albrecht Symphonic Ensemble, performances with the Prayner Konservatorium Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Konservatorium Opera Orchestra.

Most recently, Chelsea was the Hospitantdirigentin for a production at the Volksoper in Vienna, Austria. Upcoming engagements for the 2016/17 season include the Žilina Philharmonic of Slovakia, the Orquesta Esperanza Azteca of Mexico, and assisting Professor Martin Katz on UM’s production of Le Nozze di Figaro.

In June of 2016, Chelsea became the first woman to receive her Masters of Arts in Orchestral Conducting through the dual study program of the Vienna Konservatorium and Jan Albrecht Academy. Her primary teachers were Maksimilijan Cenčić and Leoš Svárovský. She studied piano with Giorgi Latsabidze and violin with Barbara Gorzynska. Before graduating, Chelsea assisted and covered with the Brno Philharmonic in the Czech Republic.

Additionally, Chelsea is the music director of the Cosmos Chamber Orchestra; an orchestra devoted to uniting scientific and artistic communities. The past and future collaborations of this ensemble include work with organizations such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Lockheed Martin, the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) amongst others. The orchestra recorded music for the Orion ETF-1 Mission and was launched from Kennedy into outer space. The orchestra was also the official recorded Artistic Ensemble for the Hubble Space Telescope 25th Anniversary Celebrations. Upcoming performances in Vienna include appearances with the Cosmos Chamber Orchestra at the United Nations.

Furthermore, Chelsea has participated in concert for numerous masterclasses and festivals in the United States and Europe including the Bacau Filarmonica, the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, the Bratislava National Opera, the New Symphony of Bulgaria, the Miami Music Festival, Medomak Symphony Orchestra amongst others. At the events she has worked with conductors Simon Rattle, Larry Rachleff, David Effron, Wolfgang Harrer, Eckart Preu, Lawrence Golan and the late Donald Thulean amongst others

At U-M, she has been the conductor of the Campus Philharmonia Orchestra, and assistant conductor to Benjamin Britten’s opera, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Past Music Directors:

• Roberto Kalb, 2015-2016, 2016-2017
• Adrian Slywotzky, 2013-2014, 2014-2015
• Oriol Sans, 2010-2011, 2011-2012, 2012-2013
• Robert Boardman, 2009-2010
• Mark Latham, 2008-2009
• Clinton Smith, 2006-2007, 2007-2008
• John Goodell, 2004-2005, 2005-2006
• Laura Jackson, 2002-2003, 2003-2004
• Mitchell Williams, 2000-2001, 2001-2002