RHSO NAMES New Music Director & Conductor

Rock Hill Symphony proudly announces Christopher James Lees as its newly appointed Music Director and Conductor. This highly anticipated and long awaited announcement comes on the heels of the symphony’s successful fifth season in Rock Hill. 

An emerging American conductor, Christopher James Lees, brings passionate and nuanced orchestral performances to the stage, a fierce commitment to contemporary music and a natural charisma to audiences all around the world. Mr. Lees will assume artistic leadership of the Rock Hill Symphony immediately, while remaining in his role as Resident Conductor for the Charlotte Symphony, an appointment he began in 2018. 

Mr. Lees has conducted symphonies all over the world with engagements that have taken him to the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Orchestra de Chambre de Paris, Aspen Philharmonic Orchestra, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, and the Music in the Mountains Festival & Festival Internacional de Inverno de Campos do Jordão in Brazil.

We are delighted to introduce him to our esteemed patrons and sponsors who have supported us so graciously throughout this process. An active guest conductor, Mr. Lees has performed a variety of programs with top orchestras across the country, from the New York Philharmonic to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well with the Houston, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Fort Worth and New World Symphony Orchestras. Only the second American Gustavo Dudamel Conducting Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mr. Lees is also a winner of the James Conlon Conducting Prize and the Aspen Conducting Prize from the Aspen Music Festival and School. 

Learn more about Maestro Lees...