San Francisco Symphony Chorus Director Jenny Wong Extends Contract with the San Francisco Symphony Through the 2028–29 Season

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—San Francisco Symphony Chorus Director Jenny Wong has extended her contract with the San Francisco Symphony through the 2028–29 season. 

Wong joined the San Francisco Symphony as Chorus Director at the beginning of the 2023–24 season, making her the fourth Chorus Director in the ensemble’s 52-year history. As San Francisco Symphony Chorus Director, she is responsible for ensuring the artistic excellence of the Chorus, conducting the annual Chorus Concert, preparing the Chorus for performances with the Orchestra, and collaborating closely with guest conductors. She also recruits, auditions, and selects new chorus members to join the 160-person ensemble, of which 32 are professional members of the American Guild of Musical Artists.

“I am thrilled to be continuing my relationship with the SF Symphony Chorus,” said Wong. “In our short time together, we have shared a lot of very meaningful and significant experiences together. I look forward to building on what we have accomplished together with this immensely gifted, dedicated, and united group of artists.”

“Jenny has had a tremendously positive impact on the Chorus and our organization as a whole, and we are thrilled to continue our relationship with her in the coming seasons,” said San Francisco Symphony Chief Executive Officer Matthew Spivey. “We look forward to many artistically fulfilling projects under her leadership in the future.”

“I am excited for the future of the Chorus under Jenny’s leadership,” said SF Symphony Chorus Bass Chung-Wai Soong. “She is a delight to work with. She can be rigorous but is also always open and positive. She continues to reestablish the voice of the Chorus, building on its great tradition while bringing her own sensibilities and expertise. Our audiences and guest conductors have been very enthusiastic about the results of our work together, which has already garnered a Grammy Award.”

In the 2025–26 season, Wong conducts the annual choral concert on May 31, leading the San Francisco Symphony Chorus in Morten Lauridsen’s Lux aeterna. She’ll also prepare the Chorus for performances of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah, led by Jane Glover (December 5–6); Gustav Holst’s The Planets, led by Edward Gardner (January 15–17); a dramatic production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requiem, conceived and conducted by Manfred Honeck (February 26–27 & March 1); the first San Francisco Symphony performances of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Easter Oratorio along with Bach’s Magnificat in D major, conducted by Bernard Labadie (April 9–11), Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, conducted by James Gaffigan; film series performances of Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton, led by Sarah Hicks (November 13–14); and a special performance of Distant Worlds: Music from FINAL FANTASY, led by Arnie Roth (March 17).

During her tenure as Chorus Director, Wong has prepared the Chorus for Orchestral Series performances of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Michael Tilson Thomas; Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem with Kazuki Yamada; the Symphony’s annual holiday performances of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah with Jonathan Cohen and Stephen Stubbs; Gustav Mahler’s Symphony Nos. 2 and 3 with Esa-Pekka Salonen; Carl Orff’s Carmina burana with David Robertson; the multisensory performance of Alexander Scriabin’s Prometheus, the Poem of Fire, with Salonen, pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and scents from Cartier in-house perfumer Mathilde Laurent; Steven Stucky’s orchestration of Igor Stravinsky’s Les Noces with Salonen; and Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem, along with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Ave verum corpus, K. 618, and several choral works by Gordon Getty, with James Gaffigan. In March 2024, she conducted the Chorus’s annual concert, featuring Carmina burana. In the 2024-25 season, Wong also prepared the Chorus for their part in Michael Tilson Thomas’s 80th birthday concert, as well as film programs including Gladiator, Music from Studio Ghibli, and Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY with conductor Arnie Roth.

As a guest conductor, Wong conducted the San Francisco Symphony Chorus in its May 2022 performance of Carmina burana. She also prepared the Chorus on three programs with Esa-Pekka Salonen during the 2022–23 season: Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in October 2022, and Kaija Saariaho’s Adriana Mater and Ferruccio Busoni’s Piano Concerto in June 2023. Adriana Mater was later released on Deutsche Grammophon and won the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. 

Wong is the fourth Chorus Director of the SF Symphony Chorus since its founding in 1973, following Louis Magor (1974–1982), Vance George (1983–2007), and Ragnar Bohlin (2007–2021). Margaret Hillis also served as Interim Chorus Director during the 1982–83 season.

Jenny Wong, San Francisco Symphony Chorus Director
A native of Hong Kong, Jenny Wong is Chorus Director of the San Francisco Symphony and associate artistic director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale. Her conducting engagements have included the Los Angeles Philharmonic Green Umbrella Series, Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, Pasadena Symphony and Pops, the Industry, Long Beach Opera, Phoenix Chorale, and Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles. In 2021, Wong was one of nine national recipients of Opera America’s inaugural Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors. 

As Chorus Director, Wong has worked with SF Symphony former Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen and Music Director Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas, as well as numerous guest conductors. She has also prepared choruses for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony, working with conductors Gustavo Dudamel, Susanna Mälkki, Jonathan Cohen, and Osmo Vänskä, among many others. Wong led the SF Symphony Chorus for the Deutsche Grammophon recording of Kaija Sariaaho’s Adriana Mater, which won the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording, and helped prepare the Los Angeles Master Chorale for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, which won the 2022 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance. Together with Grant Gershon and the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Wong was also awarded the 2022 American Prize in Choral Performance in the Professional Division.  

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