About the Conductor

Christopher Samuel, a native of Virginia, attended James Madison University, the Royal School of Church Music, and Westminster Choir College, from which he received Bachelor and Master of Music degrees. He was the associate conductor of the Westminster Oratorio Choir, and served on the faculty of Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. He earned his doctorate at Arizona State University.

As a member of the Westminster Choir, Dr. Samuel sang in Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall (New York City) and the Kennedy Center (Washington DC) under the batons of Christian Badea, Daniel Barenboim, Leonard Bernstein, Wilhelm Ehmann, Christopher Keene, Rafael Kubelik, Erich Leinsdorf, Zubin Mehta, and John Nelson. He also served as singer, composer/conductor, solo organist, and rehearsal accompanist at the Spoleto Festivals in Charleston, SC and Spoleto, Italy.

For five years, Dr. Samuel was organist and director of music at Wesley Monumental Church in Savannah, Georgia. During that tenure, he returned to the Spoleto Festival (Charleston) as conductor of the Savannah Counterpoint Madrigal Singers; under his direction, this group also performed at the Georgia State Convention of the American Choral Directors Association. He was invited to join the artistic staff of the National United Methodist Festival Choir for performances throughout New Zealand, Australia, and Hawaii, and served as associate conductor and vocal health advisor for the group.

Soon after moving to Phoenix, Dr. Samuel assumed leadership of the Valley Chamber Chorale. Since then, this ensemble has twice been invited to perform at the Arizona State Convention of the Music Educators National Conference, and two times for the Western Region’s Convention of the American Guild of Organists. In 1996, during the Guild’s national centennial celebrations, the Chorale performed in the “World’s Largest Organ Recital” along with internationally known artist, Joan Lippincott. The group’s compact disc of Renaissance motets and madrigals, O Sing Joyfully, was released that same year, and can be found in bookstores locally and in select cities nationally.

Dr. Samuel's biography-based dissertation garnered the 1998-99 "Outstanding Dissertation Award" from the Council for Research in Music Education. It was also a finalist document for the American Choral Directors Association's distinguished "Julius Herford Prize”. His collaboration with the late Rayma Ditson-Sommer, PhD produced Listen and Learn (1993) and Quick Break (1994) for the Maximal Learning System, and his commissioned work, A History of Westminster Choir College, was published in 2001. In 2010, he established an outreach program (“Arts Alive!”) that integrated vocal solo, choral, operatic, instrumental, and raconteur performances with the work of community service agencies. As an organist, he has performed throughout the United States, England, and Italy; as a choral or vocal coach clinician, he has conducted workshops and master classes in Arizona, California, Georgia, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Dr. Samuel is a past Dean of the Central Arizona Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and former chair of the Nominating Committee for the AGO’s Western Region.  For many years, he was a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for Westminster Choir College, and currently serves on the Westminster Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey.

Throughout his career, Dr. Samuel has served variously as a conductor and vocal coach. Whether working with singers or public speakers, he has consistently emphasized the importance of high artistry in the outcome, based on a sustainable technique that is grounded in healthy vocal practices.