Conductor, pianist, harpsichordist, composer, arranger, and theorist Samuel Hollister believes that music tells powerful stories that create and strengthen community. Since 2024, he has served as the Assistant Conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and The Fred M. Saigh Youth Orchestra Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra. Hollister made his subscription classical debut with SLSO in the spring of 2026, adding to the dozens of classical, pops, film, family, education, and side-by-side performances with SLSO he conducts each season. His recent and upcoming conducting engagements include appearances with the Colorado Music Festival, Paducah Symphony Orchestra, Lansing Symphony Orchestra, and the National Youth Orchestra of the USA, where he served on the conducting staff in 2026.

Hollister is a doctoral post-resident in orchestral conducting at the Yale School of Music, having finished his residency in 2024. He has served as Music Director of both the Civic Orchestra of New Haven and the University of Rhode Island Symphony Orchestra. He earned his master’s degrees in orchestral conducting and music theory pedagogy from Peabody and his bachelor’s degree in music and mathematics from Yale.

In 2018, Hollister founded Aurora Collaborative, an innovative Rhode Island non-profit community music organization blending music with art and writing. As a composer himself, he has written and arranged extensively for piano, chamber ensembles, orchestra, and choir. Hollister’s positions and appearances as opera pianist, conductor, repetiteur, and harpsichordist have included Opera Saratoga, Peabody Institute, Eastern Music Festival, and Chautauqua Institute. Hollister has studied with and assisted a broad array of conductors and musicians including Leonard Slatkin, Marin Alsop, Peter Oundjian, Yo-Yo Ma, Dalia Stasevska, Larry Rachleff, and John Storgårds.

When he’s not making music, you’ll likely find Hollister playing a game of chess, cooking, or spending time with his cats Apollo and Spinnaker.