Rossen Milanov

Music Director

Respected and admired by audiences and musicians alike, Rossen Milanov is the Music Director of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra since 2015, and currently is Music Director at Columbus Symphony Orchestra and Princeton Symphony Orchestra, as well as newly appointed Chief Conductor of the Slovenian RTV Orchestra in Ljubljana. 

An internationally established conductor, Milanov has appeared with the likes of the National Symphony Orchestra at Kennedy Center, the Civic Orchestra in Chicago, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra, amongst others. He has also collaborated with highly acclaimed artists, including Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell and Itzhak Perlman, and composers such as Derek Bermel and Phillip Glass. 

Additionally, Milanov has experience in the worlds of opera and ballet, having worked with shows such as Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtzensk, Tchaikovsky’s Mazzepa, and Verdi’s La Traviata. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including an Arts Prize by The Columbus Foundation, and the Bruno Walter Memorial Scholarship during his time at the Curtis School of Music and the Juilliard School.

Milanov is an advocate for expanding music and community reach, through means such as focusing on women composers, nature conservancy, and supporting and commissioning new pieces of music.

Stuart Chafetz

Principal Pops Conductor

Stuart Chafetz is the Principal Pops Conductor of the Chautauqua Symphony, where he also recently retired as Principal Timpanist after 22 seasons. He is also Principal Pops Conductor of the Columbus and Marin Symphonies. Chafetz, a conductor celebrated for his dynamic and engaging podium presence, is increasingly in demand with orchestras across the continent and this season Chafetz will be on the podium in Detroit, Ft Worth, Naples, Buffalo, North Carolina and Seattle. He enjoys a special relationship with The Phoenix Symphony where he leads multiple programs annually.

He previously held posts as resident conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and associate conductor of the Louisville Orchestra. As principal timpanist of the Honolulu Symphony for twenty years, Chafetz would also conduct the annual Nutcracker performances with Ballet Hawaii and principals from the American Ballet Theatre. It was during that time that Chafetz led numerous concerts with the Maui Symphony and Pops. He’s led numerous Spring Ballet performances at the world-renowned Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.

Chafetz makes his home near San Francisco, CA, with his wife Ann Krinitsky. Chafetz holds a bachelor’s degree in music performance from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati and a master’s from the Eastman School of Music.