A Hong Kong native, Jaco Wong is a San Francisco-based conductor and composer who currently serves as the Associate Conductor at Opera Parallèle and Assistant/ Cover Conductor at Oakland Symphony, where he made his professional orchestra conducting debut at the Michael Morgan Memorial Concert. Wong has conducted at Mercury Soul, a DJ/ classical music event and assisted conductor Edwin Outwater at the Dr. Phillips Center Steinmetz Hall Opening Celebration in Orlando, FL, with notable artists including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Jennifer Hudson. Wong is an active educator serving as the Upper School Instrumental Music Director of the Harker School and conductor of The Great Wall Youth Chinese Orchestra. Wong was the former choral director of Pacific Palisades Presbyterian Church and Palisades Charter High School. Some career highlights include preparing the Esperanza Azteca Youth Chorus to perform with Placido Domingo, conducting the Taipei Philharmonic, a recording session for Emmy Award-winning composer Jeremy Zuckerman, and participating in the Miami Music festival and Monteux Music Festival in New York City. Other recent engagements include assisting conductor Teddy Abrams at Louisville Orchestra’s season finale, serving as a conducting apprentice at Prague Summer Nights Opera Music Festival, and attending Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music as a conducting associate.
Featured on SF Classical Voice, Wong’s latest composition Inkling is a multimedia orchestra work in collaboration with animation artist Evan Tedlock, University of Maryland Baltimore County, and neuroscientist Enrique Vargas, UCSF Sound & Music Perception Lab, produced at Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture. Commissioned for an interactive installation, Psithaura is a finalist of the American Prize in composition, which has been performed in more than 4 countries and 7 cities, including under the baton of Donald Nally. Wong has previously composed for San Jose Chamber Orchestra, LA Choral Lab’s GPS-enabled Soundwalk, Iris Contemporary Dance Company, Hocket piano duo, Lang Lang, and the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra. Wong’s music is published by See-A-Dot Music Inc.
Wong holds a Professional Studies Certificate in Orchestral Conducting from San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a double Master's degree in Music Composition and Choral Conducting from University of Southern California, where he was the recipient of Morten Lauridsen Endowed Scholarship. He also attended a Summer Study Abroad in Paris by Eastman School of Music and IRCAM.