Five finalists selected for Plano Symphony Orchestra music director position

Four decades after becoming Plano Symphony Orchestra’s first full-time music director, Hector Guzman is preparing to step down, and PSO is tasked with finding a replacement. This morning, the orchestra announced five finalists for the position.

“We received close to 100 applications for the position, each from highly qualified candidates,” said Search Committee Co-Chair Nancy Freeman. “It’s clear from the wealth of applicants that the Plano Symphony Orchestra’s reputation precedes itself. I’m confident our new music director will represent the kind of creative vigor and leadership needed to take the orchestra to the next level.”

Each candidate will rehearse and conduct the Plano Symphony Orchestra at some point during the 2026-2027 season, and the new music director will be announced in 2027.

The finalists are:

Mélisse Brunet

• Current roles: Music Director, Lexington Philharmonic (since 2022, first woman); Music Director, Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic (6th season)

• Past roles: Director of Orchestral Studies, University of Iowa (first woman)

• Guest appearances: Carnegie Hall (2025/26, American Composers Orchestra); Phoenix, Sacramento, Charlottesville, Louisiana, Canton, Nashville, Delaware, Eugene, West Virginia, Orchestre National Avignon-Provence

• Opera/theater: Dead Man Walking, Gianni Schicchi, Die Zauberflöte, Trouble in Tahiti, Sweeney Todd, La Traviata

• Advocacy & projects: Featured in Netflix documentary Maestra (Tribeca Audience Award, 2023); advocate for contemporary music (Okpebholo, Higdon, Daugherty, Green); creates orchestral arrangements (e.g., Dolly Parton’s Color Me America)

• Education: six diplomas, Paris Conservatory; BA, Sorbonne; Professional Studies, Cleveland Institute of Music; Doctorate in Conducting, University of Michigan

• Awards/recognition: Praised for “uncommon emotional intensity” and “force at the podium”; subject of profiles in NYT, LA Times, Hollywood Reporter

• Personal: Paris native with Spanish & Italian roots; multi-instrumentalist (cello, trumpet, horn, piano); languages: English, French, Italian, Chinese, some Spanish, Hebrew, German

Filippo Ciabatti

• Current roles: Assistant Conductor, Boston Baroque (since 2023, first in ensemble’s history); Founding Artistic Director, Upper Valley Baroque; Music Director, Opera Company of Middlebury

• Past roles: Faculty, Opera Viva! (Verona); Faculty, Seagle Festival (NY); coach at Cherubini Conservatory, Florence Opera Academy, Maggio Musicale Formazione

• Guest appearances: Delaware, Portland, Vermont, Irving (TX), Macon-Mercer, San Angelo, Park ICM, Aurora Festival (Sweden), Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad Central (Colombia)

• Opera/theater: Fidelio (Middlebury debut, 2023); Tosca, Madama Butterfly, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Don Giovanni (with Nathan Gunn)

• Advocacy & projects: Commissioned Noah Luna cello concerto (aired on NPR From the Top); promoted cross-genre works (Taylor Ho Bynum secular oratorio; Tomeka Reid cello concerto)

• Education: Advanced degrees in piano, choral conducting, orchestral conducting (Italy/U.S.); Conducting Fellow, Aurora Festival (2018, under Jukka-Pekka Saraste)

• Awards/recognition: Joel Revzen Conducting Prize (2024); The American Prize in Conducting (2021)

• Personal: Native of Florence, Italy; resides in Vermont with wife Francesca, toddler Gianluca, and cat Sofia

Gonzalo Farias

• Current roles: Associate Conductor, Houston Symphony

• Past roles: Kansas City, Jacksonville, Virginia, Baltimore symphonies; Music Director, Joliet Symphony Orchestra

• Guest appearances: Nashville Symphony, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Buffalo Philharmonic, Tallahassee Symphony, Houston Symphony (premiere of Márquez Guitar Concerto, 2024)

• Opera/theater: Narrated, bilingual Carmen (Joliet Symphony); community engagement programs

• Advocacy & projects: Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview (League of American Orchestras); NEA grant review panelist

• Education: BA, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; New England Conservatory (studied with Wha-Kyung Byun & Russell Sherman)

• Awards/recognition: Piano competition prizes (Claudio Arrau, Maria Canals, Luis Sigall); praised for “Zen-like quality” on the podium

• Personal: Born in Santiago, Chile; began piano at 5; doctoral research on Cardew’s The Great Learning, cybernetics & Zen Buddhism

Jacob Joyce

• Current roles: Associate Conductor, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra; Music Director, Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra

• Past roles: Resident Conductor, Indianapolis Symphony; Conducting Fellow, Fort Worth Symphony; Associate Conductor, Yale Symphony; Music Director, Berkeley College Orchestra; Cover Conductor, Handel and Haydn Society

• Guest appearances: Detroit, St. Louis, Houston, Nashville, Kansas City, Colorado, Florida; London Symphony, Frankfurt hr-Sinfonieorchester, NDR-Sinfonieorchester

• Opera/theater: Music Director, Opera Theater of Yale College

• Advocacy & projects: Host/creator, Attention to Detail podcast; host, PSO’s Disrupt series; premieres of contemporary orchestral/operatic works

• Education: BA Music & Economics, Yale (2014); MM Violin, Yale School of Music (2015); studied conducting with Hugh Wolff at NEC; Aspen & Tanglewood Fellow

• Awards/recognition: Robert Spano Conducting Prize (Aspen); semifinalist, LSO Donatella Flick & Solti Competitions

• Personal: Accomplished violinist; Broadus Erle Prize (Yale); concertmaster, Yale Symphony; performed with Boston Philharmonic & Atlantic Symphony

Stilian Kirov

• Current roles: Music Director, Illinois Philharmonic (since 2017); Music Director, Bakersfield Symphony; Interim Artistic Advisor & Principal Conductor, Southwest Florida Symphony (since 2024)

• Past roles: Music Director, Symphony in C (NJ); Associate Conductor, Seattle Symphony & Memphis Symphony; assistant to Bernard Haitink, Chicago Symphony; cover conductor, Boston Symphony (Denève, Frühbeck de Burgos, Dohnányi, Davis)

• Guest appearances: Israel Camerata, Xi’an Symphony, Sofia Philharmonic, Orchestre Colonne (Paris), Zagreb Philharmonic, Victoria Symphony (Canada); U.S. guesting with Seattle, Memphis, Chautauqua, Omaha, Tucson, Amarillo, Pacific Northwest Ballet (Seattle)

• Opera/theater: Frequent conductor with Pacific Northwest Ballet; stepped in with Seattle Symphony for Carmina Burana (2013/14)

• Advocacy & projects: Community leader; Emmy award for Memphis Symphony’s Soundtrack Project

• Education: Juilliard (studied with James DePreist); Aspen Conducting Academy; Tanglewood Fellow; Master’s in conducting, École Normale de Musique (Paris)

• Awards/recognition: Solti Foundation Career Assistance Award (2016–19); First Prize, Debut Berlin Competition (2017); Malko Competition prize (2015); Mitropoulos Competition prize (2010); ADAMI Conducting Prize (France, 2010)

• Personal: Bulgarian-born; accomplished pianist, Gold Medalist (2001 Claude Kahn International Piano Competition, Paris)