The Palm Springs Friends of Philharmonic (PS Phil) is excited to announce that conductor Lee Mills has been selected as its new Executive Director. He is assuming the position during the organization’s incredible 50th Anniversary Season with a blockbuster list of world-renowned orchestras from the U.S. and U.K.
A five-time Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award winner, Lee Mills is internationally recognized as a passionate, multifaceted, and energetic conductor. In naming Mills as the ‘New Artist of the Month’ for March 2022, Musical America praised Mills ‘omnivorous musical temperament eager to try out highly contrasting musical styles and approaches.’
As Associate Conductor of the Seattle Symphony, Mill was an invaluable asset, giving dozens of performances, including the 2020 Season Opening Gala on Seattle Symphony Live and recording multiple albums with the orchestra. From 2014-2019, Mills served as Resident
Conductor of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra in Rio de Janeiro, where he helped reshape the organization’s mission to focus heavily on education and social responsibility.
In the fall of 2022, Mills was the Solti Foundation U.S. Resident at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, where he worked with maestro Enrique Mazzola on the Lyric’s production of Verdi’s Don Carlos. Mills has conducted many of the leading orchestras in the United States, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, and the National Symphony Orchestra.
Pacific Symphony returns on Tuesday, February 6 at 7:30 pm with Carl St. Clair as Music Director and pianist Olga Kern. The concert will mark one of the last concerts with St. Clair at the podium after a remarkable 30-plus years as music director. This memorable program will include Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3.
The San Diego Symphony appears on Sunday, February 18, 2024 at 5:00 pm. Venezuelan Music Director Rafael Payare will bring his innate musicianship, charismatic energy, and joyous spirit to the podium along with trumpeter Pacho Flores. The program will include a new trumpet concerto composed by Latin GRAMMY® nominated Gabriela Ortiz, one of the foremost composers in Mexico today.
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra performs on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at 7:30 pm with Nathalie Stutzmann, their new music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and only the second woman in history to lead a major American orchestra. Also performing will be Chinese pianist Haochen Zhang, a Gold Medalist and First Prize winner of the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009.
Returning after 15 years will be the San Francisco Symphony on Thursday, March 21, 2024, at 7:30pm. The San Francisco Symphony has won some of the world’s most prestigious recording awards, including Japan’s Record Academy® Award, France’s Grand Prix du Disque, Britain’s Gramophone Award, and a bundle of GRAMMY® awards. Finnish Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen will conduct this all-Sibelius concert with special guest Georgian-born German violinist Lisa Batiashvili.
The Palm Springs Friends of Philharmonic’s 50th anniversary season continues to celebrate a legacy of great performances by national and international orchestras and conductors. The PS Phil also fosters music appreciation for local youth and encourages promising young musicians through scholarships, education, and instrument donation programs.
For subscriptions, tickets, and more information or ways to support Palm Springs Friends of Philharmonic, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization call 760-341-1013, or visit www.PSPhil.org.
