Praised by Gramophone for leaving the audience “with a spring in its step,” Lee Mills, a five-time Solti Foundation US Career Assistance Award winner, is an internationally acclaimed conductor known for his passion and energy. Musical America hailed him as the 'New Artist of the Month' in March 2022, praising his versatility and exploration of diverse musical styles. During his time as Associate Conductor of the Seattle Symphony, he was praised by the Seattle Times for being the “hero of the hour” when he stepped in last-minute for a world premiere of Hannah Lash’s gargantuan double-harp concerto The Peril of Dreams. He served as the Solti Foundation US Resident at Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2022, and other recent engagements include the Naples Philharmonic, a return to the Seattle Symphony, and the Orchestra of the National Theater in Brasilia, Brazil. During his five-year tenure as Resident Conductor of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, Mills launched the project Musical Connections, an in-depth music education and social responsibility project that impacted more than 200,000 people across Brazil.