Born in Fairfax, Virginia, Jesse Wong has made a name for himself as an inspirational conductor and pianist, working with top singers, musicians and opera houses across Europe and around the world.

As the current Studienleiter and Kapellmeister of the Luzerner Theater in Switzerland, he has passionately developed the ensemble into a celebrated musical force:

“Everyone sings their roles in such an impressive manner, with an arc of excitement over the entire evening, never boring or indifferent. To hear the singers of the Luzerner Ensemble, it is a true joy.” - SRF Regionaljournal Zentralschweiz

Through his engagement with the leadership of prominent directors such as Benedikt von Peter and Lydia Steier, and the management of Ina Karr, Ursula Benzing, Lars Gebhardt and Johanna Wall, Jesse has conducted a prolific amount of operatic repertoire with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, including “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” (Rossini), “Cosi fan tutte” (Mozart), “Le Nozze di Figaro” (Mozart), “The Cunning Little Vixen” (Janacek), “Macbeth” (Verdi), and “The Rape of Lucretia” (Britten), “Eugene Onegin” (Tchaikovsky), “Bluebeard’s Castle” (Bartok), “Alcina” (Händel), and “Der Rosenkavalier” (Strauss). He also steps in to conduct three performances of Pascal Dusapin’s lauded modern opera “Perela,” for which he led rehearsals in collaboration with the chief conductor of the Staatstheater Mainz Hermann Bäumer. Next season he will be the principal conductor for a new production of “Hänsel und Gretel” and Fritz Koffler’s arrangement for orchestra of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, as well as conducting performances of “I Capuleti e i Montecchi” (Bellini) and “La Boheme” (Puccini).

Over six seasons as repetiteur and conductor at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf/Duisburg under the direction of Axel Kober, Jesse worked with the plus 50-member singing ensemble and three associated orchestras to stage over 200 performances each year. As well as conducting the standard operatic repertoire such as “Hänsel and Gretel” (Humperdinck), “Don Pasquale” (Donizetti), and “Die Zauberflöte” (Mozart), he was a go-to figure for training and interpreting complex contemporary opera, making his house debut conducting the one-act opera “What Next?” by the late composer Elliott Carter (original premiere at Staatsoper Unter den Linden with Daniel Barenboim) and multiple-season performances of the fantasy opera “Where the Wild Things Are” by the late composer Oliver Knussen. Other highlights included conducting a full production of the one-act opera “Ariane” by Bohuslav Martinu, serving as the primary repetiteur in Stefan Herheim’s staging of “Wozzeck” by Alban Berg, and playing full rehearsals of Dietrich Hilsdorf’s and Axel Kober’s new production of the complete “Der Ring des Nibelungen” (Wagner).

Under the tutelage of the pianist Nancy O'Neill Breth, he performed as a soloist with many orchestras, including the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington D.C. Receiving his music degree from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he also conducted and led the premier student orchestra, he was later accepted into intensive apprentice programs at the National Opera Studio in London and the Opera Studio at the Theater Krefeld-Mönchengladbach, Germany. He can be contacted for opera coachings in German, Italian, French and Russian, as well as for performances, arrangements and jazz improvisation.