Chloé Dufresne
© Michal Nowak
Humility and authority
Conductor
Music Director, Colorado Springs Philharmonic
Artistic Director, Orchestre Ostinato
Associate Artist, Orchestre National de Bretagne
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‘Chloé Dufresne endeared herself with a rare combination of humility and authority… Chloé took control of the piece, telling its story, picking at its colours, literally ‘conducting’ its magic’
Andrew Mellor, Gramophone
With her clear technique, calm authority and imaginative palette, Chloé Dufresne has made her mark as a conductor only a few years since graduating from the Sibelius Academy. She has recently been appointed Music Director of Colorado Springs Philharmonic from the 2025–26 season, and serves as Associate Artist of the Orchestre National de Bretagne and Artistic Director of Orchestre Ostinato.
A background in singing and choral conducting has led Dufresne naturally to opera, and in the 2024–25 season she conducted Carmen at Theater Magdeburg, Orphée aux enfers with Opéra national du Capitole de Toulouse, L’Elisir d’amore with Opéra national de Lorraine, and a new production of Leonard Evers’ Humanoid at Semperoper Dresden. Earlier productions include Don Giovanni, Norma, Albert Herring and Offenbach’s Pomme d’Api for Opéra Rouen, Opéra de Toulon, Opéra de Nice and Opéra National de Lorraine, as well as a Bayreuth production of Wagner’s The Ring for children at the Helsinki Festival.
Alongside her commitments in Colorado, this season Dufresne conducts Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie Koblenz and Kuopio Symphony Orchestra. In France, she returns to Orchestre National de Bretagne, Opéra Grand Avignon (with Offenbach’s La Belle Hélène) and Opéra national de Paris for Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera.
As well as specialising in core repertoire by composers such as Debussy, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Dvořák and Beethoven, Dufresne is a strong advocate for new music and won a prize for her interpretation of music by Camille Pepin at the Besançon Conducting Competition. In her role as Music Director of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic she will collaborate with contemporary composers including Wynton Marsalis, Hannah Kendall, Michael Daugherty and John Williams. She previously conducted music by György Ligeti, Lucas Ligeti and Hannah Kendall with Basel Sinfonietta, and works by Ross Edwards, Cecilia Damström and Ville Raasakka.
