After an international search that drew 255 applicants, the Colorado Springs Philharmonic has found its new Music Director: Chloé Dufresne. The acclaimed French conductor was announced with a welcoming celebration at the Ent Center for the Arts on July 29, and she will step into the role beginning with the Philharmonic’s 2025–26 season.
A rising star in the world of orchestral music, Dufresne brings a unique combination of lyrical elegance, commanding presence and bold artistic vision to the Philharmonic. Her appointment signals a new chapter for the orchestra — one that builds on a rich legacy while looking unflinchingly to the future.
“From the first downbeat, Chloé brought a rare electricity to the podium,” says Nathan Newbrough, president and CEO of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic. “She inspired the musicians and stirred the audience. We knew she had the artistry — and the heart — to lead this orchestra into its next era.”
Dufresne’s international career has spanned concert halls across Europe, with appearances at the Paris Philharmonie and with the Finnish Radio Symphony and Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie orchestras. She says she is particularly proud of her debut with the Vienna Symphony earlier this year as well. Dufresne is the Associate Artist of the Orchestre National de Bretagne and a former Dudamel Fellow with the LA Phil. Known for her nuanced interpretations and unshakable poise, she has already earned acclaim as one of classical music’s most exciting conductors to watch.
“Colorado Springs welcomed me with warmth and curiosity — and I felt an instant kinship with the musicians,” Dufresne says. “This orchestra is not afraid of taking risks. Together, I believe we can create something profoundly resonant — musically and within the community.”
We spoke with Dufresne as she prepared for her welcome in Colorado Springs, discussing her musical background, style and vision for the Philharmonic.
Springs: What first drew you to Colorado Springs and the Colorado Springs Philharmonic?
Chloé Dufresne: I was invited for a concert there in January 2024, so I came for a week with the orchestra, and it went very well. We enjoyed each other, and then they invited me to apply. We had a good feeling together, and I thought it was a good match.
What were some of your first impressions from that trip?
I didn’t see much of the city because it was very cold — but the people weren’t cold. The people were very warm, and I felt good from the beginning. I felt very much at home. The first day I arrived at the hotel there were flowers in my room. I still remember this. We often have flowers but after the concert when we leave. So it felt very welcoming to have them from the beginning to enjoy the during the whole week.
Going back much farther than that, what was it that first sparked your love for music?
I discovered music very early. I started with piano when I was 5. Then I went in a music school where I learned viola. I played viola for 20 years, and I sang at the opera of my city in Montpellier, in South France. Actually I would say that it’s the opera that kept me with music because we had all the costumes, all the the makeup. As a child, we were working with adults and with the professional singers and orchestras. So that’s where I saw conductors early on. I was on stage with great conductors as a kid. That’s how it came to my mind that I wanted to be a conductor when I was 10 years old.
So it’s a lifelong dream.
Yeah, completely. I started with choir conducting and then orchestra conducting and now I’m here.
How do you like to describe your conducting style?
Well, there are different styles. My style of rehearsing would be very horizontal. I try to create the atmosphere for people to listen to each other and play together — for the energy to circulate. I’m not an authoritarian conductor. Of course, I make decisions when it’s needed, but I have a very collaborative way of rehearsing.
In the gesture and what the audience sees, I am very dynamic and move a lot. I’m not very small. I’m kind of like a bird — a big bird. I move a lot, and I’m doing big gestures. People say I’m kind of dancing. It’s very hard for me to describe — I’m conducting with my own body. People project what they want on me. I’m not thinking about that.
What does it feel like to you when you’re in that moment?
Well, it depends, but most of the time it feels like being myself somehow. You know, it’s a small square. This podium is a small square, but you are allowed to do everything you want. It’s the freedom square somehow. It’s a place where I can express myself.
You are the first woman to lead the Colorado Springs Philharmonic in its 99 seasons, which is wonderful. How does that make you feel? Is there added pressure?
I feel good. I have been a woman in this field since the beginning, so I know the process. I know how people react to that. So it may be new for the audience and for the orchestra. But for me, it’s just a natural step, so I don’t feel more pressure. Of course, women in this field, we probably have a bit more pressure, but I don’t feel that now I will be judged more than before. It’s just a growing process. For me it feels natural. I feel that I am at the right place at the right moment.
Do you have some favorite composers or works that Colorado Springs Philharmonic fans might start to see working into the repertoire?
I love Stravinsky. So I’m opening the season with The Firebird, and there are a lot of pieces of Stravinsky that I would love to do with the orchestra. But also Tchaikovsky. I’m actually also opening the season with Piano Concerto No. 1 of Tchaikovsky.
These are two composers that I really love, but there are three things: I’m also trying to play a bit more contemporary music with the Philharmonic, to bring, of course, the French repertoire, and I have put in every concert female composers that have to be discovered — very good female composers.
Do you envision any changes to the season format?
The Masterworks will continue and the Pops. We haven’t talked a lot about this, but the Signature Series might change a bit. I have a lot of ideas, but I want to do something a bit different with these three concerts.
And, of course, there are a lot of educational things that I want to be involved in. I have to see what’s possible. I understand that the system is different in the States than what I can do in Europe or in France. So I have to talk with different people. It might be many things. It might be educational concerts. It might be just going into schools myself to see the kids and present my work and do some exercise or music with them. I have a lot of experience in education, a lot of children’s choirs and student choirs, but also orchestras and serving as music director of a semi-professional orchestra in Paris. So I have a lot of ideas. Now I just have to shape all of that with what’s possible to bring in Colorado Springs.
So outside of music, what do you enjoy doing?
I enjoy walking in nature or running. This helps me to not think too much about work — but my work is a passion, so I’m always thinking about it and I always have ideas. I actually love people, so meeting friends and going into nature. I also like origami. I like board games — many small things, every type of the arts, like painting. And I’m looking forward to seeing Colorado Springs and all of Colorado. It looks amazing.
Are there any specific places you’re looking forward to exploring?
I know around Colorado Springs, there are big parks. I don’t know exactly what I’m going to see, but I’m looking forward to taking a car and taking two or three weeks to just go around. I don’t know when I will be able to do that, but that’s kind of the plan.
