Francesco Milioto

Music Director

Since his debut in Chicago just over a decade ago, Mr. Milioto now balances a busy career conducting a wide range of orchestral and operatic repertoire while maintaining a full schedule as a pianist and vocal coach.  He currently holds the positions of Co-founder/Conductor of the New Millennium Orchestra, Music Director of the Skokie Valley Symphony Orchestra, Principal Conductor of the Highland Park Strings, and Artistic Director/Conductor of Access Contemporary Music. 

The 2013-14 season will see Mr. Milioto debut with Chicago Opera Theater, conducting Verdi’s rarely performed Giovanna d’Arco in collaboration with his New Millennium Orchestra. Immediately following his work with COT, he will join the staff at Lyric Opera of Chicago as cover conductor for Verdi’s masterpiece La Traviata. To complete this Verdi bicentennial Mr. Milioto will return to Opera Santa Barbara to lead Falstaff.

Now in his seventh season as Music Director of the Skokie Valley Symphony Mr. Milioto will guide the orchestra down a new path of creative and collaborative concerts. The SVSO will present concerts featuring a wide variety of repertoire and styles, while seeking to utilize new and innovative ways to engage the community. Performances will highlight multimedia, dance, theater, and partnerships with our talented local schools, while continuing to support our Young Artist Competition winners.

Mr. Milioto is particularly proud of his work with the New Millennium Orchestra of Chicago, which he co-found in 2005.  The NMO has an incredible range of repertoire, playing everything from classical music and opera to collaborations with jazz and hip-hop artists.  This season begins with an incredible collaboration in the Harris Theater with Chicago Opera Theater for their production of Giovanna d’Arco. Since it’s inception, NMO has maintained a regular presence on the City of Chicago’s stages, in a range of repertoire from chamber music to orchestral concerts, and fully produced opera. Most recent was a production of Viktor Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis on the Pritzker Pavillion stage. NMO recently made its Chicago Symphony Center debut with world-renowned tenor Yonghoon Lee. This young dynamic group has successfully debuted on both the Ravinia Festival Kraft Kid’s Series and the Harris Theater Family Series with innovative programs like D.J Beethoven and Hip Hopera, both created by Mr. Milioto.

His critically acclaimed work with the Highland Park Strings ranges from the earliest string music to the romantic and contemporary orchestral repertoire.  As Principal Conductor, Mr. Milioto has had the pleasure to work with many international soloists, and numerous members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. This season will highlight the HPS journey from string ensemble to full orchestra with works such as Verdi’s string quartet, and Britten’s Simple Symphony to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8.

As Artistic Director and Conductor of Access Contemporary Music, Mr. Milioto is in command of the brilliantly vibrant ensemble Palomar, which has been featured on the radio and in performances through the city and abroad. Especially exciting are ACM’s Composer ALIVE project and the Sound of Silent Film performances. This season, the Composer ALIVE project features Brazilian composer Alexandre Lunsqui. Following last season’s critically acclaimed debut of the Sound of Silent Film festival in New York City, ACM will once again return to the big apple in 2014. Mr. Milioto is very proud of the work ACM does in nurturing living composers, and performing many new works each season by composers in Chicago.

As an opera conductor, last season included his debut with Opera Santa Barbara in Don Pasquale, as well as New Millennium Orchestra’s presentation of Der Kaiser von Atlantis on the Pritzker Pavillion stage in Chicago’s Millennium Park. Mr. Milioto has also recently made his debut with Opera Southwest in a production of La Traviata, and led his sixth production with Opera on the James in Virginia. As Music Director of the Chicago Cultural Center Summer Opera he has led nine productions to critical acclaim including Le Nozze di Figaro, Candide, Dido and Aeneas, The Magic Flute, L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges, and most recently Handel’s Acis and Galatea which he led from the harpsichord.

As an assistant conductor, Mr Milioto has worked at the Ravinia Festival, Los Angeles Opera, Portland Opera, and Chicago Opera Theater. His duties have encompassed the roles of rehearsal pianist, prompter, coach, and chorus master. At the Ravinia Festival, he has been involved in many opera, orchestral and recital projects, working alongside Daniel Barenboim (2004) and James Conlon (2005-present). For Chicago Opera Theater, he worked as an assistant conductor/rehearsal pianist on both Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers, and Peter Brook’s version of Bizet’s Carmen, before returning as an assistant conductor/chorus master for Rossini’s Mosé in Egitto. Mr. Milioto served as first assistant conductor to both James Conlon and Patrick Summers with Los Angeles Opera on Rigoletto and La Bohème. It was as a finalist for the position that he went to Portland Opera as assistant conductor and chorus master for their production of Tosca.