Samuel Lee
Conductor
About
Winner of the 2024 Malko Competition for Young Conductors, Lee is now building an international career spanning major orchestras in Europe, North America and Asia.
The 2026/27 season marks an important new chapter, with engagements including the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, Aalborg Symphony Orchestra and Orquesta Sinfónica de la Región de Murcia, as well as his debut with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. In Dallas, Lee conducts the world premiere of Michael Abels’ Cello Concerto with cellist Tommy Mesa, alongside Bernstein’s Three Dance Episodes from On the Town and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8. Across the season, his programmes combine major symphonic repertoire with contemporary works, reflecting the breadth of his musical interests and experience.
During the 2025/26 season, he conducted the Stuttgart Philharmonic, Tonkünstler Orchestra, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Bochum Symphony Orchestra, Romanian National Radio, Turku Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Arctic Philharmonic, Teatro Carlo Felice and Malmö Symphony.
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Lee completed his tenure as Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra at the end of the 2024/25 season. He has also conducted orchestras including Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Bamberger Symphoniker, Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, Symphoniker Hamburg, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra and Korean National Symphony Orchestra. His work has taken him to leading concert halls and festivals worldwide.
A strong advocate for contemporary music, Lee has conducted premieres by Bryce Dessner, Giuseppe Gallo-Balma and Marc Migó. He was a conducting fellow with the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in 2021 and 2022, working with leading figures in the contemporary orchestral field. His commitment to new music sits alongside a broad symphonic repertoire and a particular interest in the dialogue between established works and music of the present day.
Lee's musical perspective was shaped initially through the viola. He studied with Tabea Zimmermann at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin before continuing his conducting studies with Christian Ehwald and later Ulrich Windfuhr at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. From 2009 to 2017, he was violist of the Novus String Quartet, with whom he toured internationally and performed at venues including the Berliner Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall, Vienna’s Musikverein, Kölner Philharmonie and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. He was a second prize winner at the 61st ARD International Music Competition in Munich and first prize winner of the Salzburg International Mozart Competition.
As a violist, Lee has also appeared as a soloist with orchestras including the Baden-Baden Philharmonic, Münchener Kammerorchester, Bodensee Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic, KBS Symphony and Korean National Symphony Orchestra. He served as Professor of Viola at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig until 2022. This experience as a performer and teacher continues to inform his approach to conducting, bringing an understanding of orchestral musicianship and chamber-music communication to his work on the podium.
Schedule
Media
Videos
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 47
Maurice Ravel - La Valse
Malko Competition 2024 - Grand Finale
Malko Competition 2024 - Round 1
Igor Stravinsky - The Firebird Suite
Gallery
Reviews
Contact
General Management
Harrison Parrott
Visit Artist Page
Liz Sam
Director, Artist Management
+44 (0)7769 143 536
liz.sam@harrisonparrott.co.uk
Gemma Chester
Administrator, Artist Relations
+44 (0)7966 18 6704
gemma.chester@harrisonparrott.co.uk
South Korea Management
MOC Production
Sam Lee
CEO
+82 (0)2-338-3816
mocproduction@gmail.com
Seoyeon Park
Artist Manager
+82 (0)2-338-7593
seoyeon.park@mocproduction.com