T a l  S a m u e l      

Described as a daring, authentic and versatile young conductor, Tal Samuel is fast earning a reputation as promising talent conducting from the opera pit and on concert hall stages around the world.

 

In recent years, Samuel conducted notable orchestras and ensembles such as the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Gürzenich Orchester Köln, Lucerne Strings Festival Orchestra, Danubia Orchestra Óbuda, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, The Colorado Mahler Festival Orchestra, New World Symphony Orchestra, Das Kritische Orchester, Haifa Symphony Orchestra, The Israeli Chamber Orchestra, Israel Sinfonieta Bee'r-Sheva Orchestra, The Royal Scottish Conservatory Orchestra and others.

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Recently, Tal Samuel was the first Israeli female conductor ever invited to work with Maestro Bernard Haitink and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra at his renowned masterclass at the Lucerne Festival. She was also invited to work with Maestro Michael Tilson-Thomas and the New World Symphony in Miami and with the Kritische Orchester in Berlin, where she performed with players from Berliner Philharmoniker, Staatskapelle Berlin, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and other top German orchestras.

In addition, Samuel was chosen among hundreds of young conductors to participate in the highly esteemed Malko Conducting Competition in Denmark and the German Conducting Award Competition in Germany.

Her international accomplishments won her prestigious prizes, awards and scholarships by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, Bruno Walter Foundation, Diana Mary Steyer Fund, Friends of the Haifa Symphony Orchestra Association, Jacobs School of Music, the Colorado Mahler Festival and the famous Bayreuth Music Festival in Germany. 

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During her time in the United States, Tal Samuel served as a Conducting Fellow at the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in Indiana, Assistant Conductor at both the Mahler Music Festival in Colorado and the Bloomington Summer Music Festival, and as a Fellow at the Cabrillo New-Music Festival in California.  

Since 2014, she has been working as an Assistant Conductor at the Opera and Ballet Theater in Bloomington Indiana.  Some of her notable productions with the company include: Così Fan Tutte (Mozart), La Fille Du Régiment (Donizetti), La Bohème (Puccini), Dead Man Walking (Heggie), Oklahoma! (Rodgers and Hammerstein),The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake (Tchaikovsky) and others.

​From 2014-2016, Samuel also served as Music Director of the theater’s Fall Ballet subscriptions series where she conducted and recorded multiple iconic ballets such as Balanchine’s Emeralds and Divertimento, along with modern ballets such as Saudade by the Australian chirographer Sasha Janes and As Time Goes By by Twayla Tharp.

                                                       

Apart from her professional engagements, Samuel was also invited to participate in highly prestigious conducting master classes.  Her mentors in recent years include: Bernard Haitink, Jorma Panula, Michael Tilson Thomas, Peter Eötvös, Marin Alsop, Simone Young, Yoel Levi, Asher Fisch, Carl St. Clair and James Ross.

 

​Tal Samuel was born in Haifa, Israel. She studied piano, violin and viola at the Israeli Conservatory in Tel-Aviv, with the viola becoming her main instrument.  As an accomplished violist, she has performed with numerous chamber groups and orchestras in her home country and abroad and played under conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Kurt Masur, Helmuth Rilling and others.

Samuel holds a Doctoral Degree in Orchestral Conducting and Music Theory from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. She also holds a Masters’ Degree in Orchestral Conducting from Indiana University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Orchestral Conducting and Composition from the Buchmann-Mehta School of music at Tel-Aviv University.