Francesco Lecce-Chong, Eugene Symphony’s still-new music director and conductor, has been named music director of the Santa Rosa Symphony, the California orchestra announced late on Tuesday, March 27.

That doesn’t mean we’re losing the popular young conductor. Lecce-Chong’s Santa Rosa appointment, which begins in the fall, won’t interfere with his work here, a Eugene Symphony spokeswoman tells EW. “This doesn’t affect his commitment or his schedule here,” Lindsey McCarthy says, adding that Lecce-Chong will still be conducting 10 of the upcoming season’s 12 concerts, as planned.

He was known to be a candidate for the Santa Rosa job while he was also being considered for the Eugene post. He guest-conducted a program with the Santa Rosa orchestra in October, during the area’s catastrophic fires.

Lecce-Chong, who was named music director of the Eugene Symphony last April, will replace Santa Rosa’s Parisian music director Bruno Ferrandis, who is stepping down at the end of the season after leading the Santa Rosa orchestra for a dozen years.