Music Director & Conductor

Geoffrey Gallegos, Music Director & Conductor

In 2004, following an extensive search, Geoffrey Gallegos was appointed Music Director and Conductor of the Kensington (CA) Symphony Orchestra, only the third in the Orchestra’s 45+ year history. During his tenure, he has contributed to a significant increase in the orchestra’s membership and audience, and the KSO’s visibility in the community, broadened its repertoire, and raised its artistic and musical standards exponentially. Maestro Gallegos, a San Francisco native and sixth generation Californian has been a fixture in the San Francisco Bay Area music community for over 30 years. From 1985 to 1990, Maestro Gallegos served as Associate Conductor of the San Francisco Chamber Players Orchestra. In 1991 he was appointed Principal Conductor of the San Francisco Concerto Orchestra and continued in that capacity until 1993. He resumed his association with the SFCO from 2000 –‘06 as Principal Guest Conductor. In 2003, he was engaged as Assistant Conductor of the Peninsula Symphony Orchestra (N. CA) and served in that position until 2008.

It was also in 2003 that Maestro Gallegos made his debut with Golden Gate Opera in San Francisco conducting I Pagliacci and was subsequently invited to assume the position of Music Director and Principal Conductor. During his tenure, which concluded in 2020, he conducted most main stage productions including among others, Gianni Schicchi, The Telephone, Madama Butterfly, Carmen, Suor Angelica, Hansel and Gretel and the world premiere production of Lincoln & Booth. Additional work in the theater has included his engagements as Music Director/Conductor of San Jose Lyric Theatre’s 2008 production of G&S The Pirates of Penzance, and in 2013 as Music Director/Conductor of California Opera Associations’s production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Fresno. With the commencement of the 2015-’16 season, following a year long search, Maestro Gallegos was appointed Music Director and Conductor of the West County Winds, a symphonic wind and percussion ensemble serving West Contra Costa County and in affiliation with Contra Costa Community College. Maestro Gallegos most recent appointment was at the invitation of the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra to become its Music Director and Conductor with the commencement of the 2021-’22 season. He was invited to guest conduct the opening of the 49th season of the Diablo Symphony Orchestra (CA) and has also guest conducted many other ensembles throughout the Bay Area, US and in Europe.

Maestro Gallegos has a deep commitment to music education. In 2001, he was appointed Music Director and Conductor of the Golden Gate Philharmonic, an all-city youth string orchestra in San Francisco. More recently, he was elevated to the position of Artistic Director/Principal Conductor and Executive Director. From 2001-2010, he also participated in the Artist in Residence program at the School of the Arts (S.O.T.A.) in San Francisco where he served as guest conductor of the orchestra and wind ensembles, and taught music theory and sight singing. During the 2000-01 academic year, Maestro Gallegos was appointed Conductor of the San Francisco State University Symphonic Wind Ensemble. In the summer of 2002 he was invited as a Guest Conductor of the Orchestra at Cazadero Music Camp and was reengaged for the 2004 summer session. From 2007-2010, Maestro Gallegos served as Instrumental Music Coordinator and Liaison at The Nueva School in Hillsborough where, among many duties, he oversaw the prestigious Menuhin/Dowling instrumental music program and organized and managed the Menuhin/Dowling Competition for Young Musicians. Maestro Gallegos has been invited on numerous occasions (most recently 2024) to guest conduct the SFUSD All-City Orchestras for their annual Festival concerts. He has served as an adjudicator for a number of youth competitions, master-classes and workshops throughout the Bay Area, and was invited to participate as a jury member for the 2014 annual Parade of Orchestras Festival held in Honolulu.

Maestro Gallegos studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Preparatory School and San Francisco State University, completing, with honors, a Bachelor of Music degree in Instrumental Education and Conducting. Advanced studies in orchestral and operatic conducting continued at the University of Iowa School of Music, where he received a Master of Arts degree with High Distinction and served as Conductor of the University Chamber Orchestra. Four times he was awarded fellowships, chosen from a large international pool of applicants, to the prestigious Conductors Institute held at West Virginia University and the University of South Carolina. From 2005-2023, Maestro Gallegos served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Community Music Center in San Francisco where he began his music studies with the trumpet at the age of nine. He resides in San Francisco with his sweet cat Rajah.