BSO Appoints New Assistant Conductor, Samy Rachid

The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) has announced that Samy Rachid has been appointed as new assistant conductor for a two-year term, effective in October 2023. BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons named Rachid to succeed Anna Rakitina in the position following an audition process. Rachid joins Earl Lee, appointed in 2021, as one of the BSO's two assistant conductors. The young French conductor will make his scheduled debut with the orchestra during the 2024 Tanglewood season, followed by subscription concerts at Symphony Hall during the BSO's 2024-25 season.

"All of us at the BSO are thrilled to welcome Samy Rachid as our new assistant conductor," said Anthony Fogg, William I. Bernell Vice President for Artistic Planning. "Samy's impressive international achievements as a cellist, as well as his emerging skills as a conductor of great individuality and insights, make him an especially exciting choice for the BSO. We look forward to his first concerts with the orchestra in summer 2024 at Tanglewood and to introducing him to Symphony Hall audiences in 2024-25. I know that Samy will be a wonderful addition to the BSO family."

"I am overjoyed to be joining the Boston Symphony Orchestra family," said Rachid. "I discovered classical music with a recording of Charles Munch with the BSO, which inspired me to become a professional musician. Working with Maestro Nelsons and the wonderful musicians of the BSO is a great honor, and I look forward to becoming part of the Boston community."

Formerly the cellist of the Arod Quartet, Samy Rachid left that ensemble in 2021 to focus on conducting, winning 2nd Prize of the Tokyo International Music Competition for Conducting. The same year he worked with France's Orchestre Elektra and was subsequently asked by the ensemble to become their music director for the 2022-23 season. He was a Conducting Fellow of the prestigious Verbier Festival 2022, where he worked with such renowned conductors as Gianandrea Noseda and Klaus Mäkelä, and took part of the Gstaad Conducting Academy, where he worked closely with Jaap von Zweden and became the first French conductor to be awarded the Academy's Neeme Järvi Prize. He is currently assistant conductor of the Opéra National du Rhin.

Rachid studies and works closely with Mathieu Herzog, assisting him with the Orchestre Appassionato on several projects and working with singers including Roberto Alagna, Ludovic Tezier, and Nadine Sierra. As cellist of the Arod Quartet, he worked with Quatuor Ebène and the Artemis Quartet. With the Arod Quartet, he won the First Prize and two special prizes at the Carl Nielsen String Quartet Competition in 2015, and the following year was awarded First Prize and two special prizes at the ARD Competition in Munich. He also recorded several albums for Warner Classics.

Since 2021, Rachid has conducted the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Gstaad Festival Orchestra, Verbier Festival Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra, PKF Prague Philharmonia, Tokyo Philharmonic, New Japan Philharmonic, Sinfonie Orchester Biel Solothurn, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Orchestre Symphonique de Mulhouse, and Hungarian Symphony Orchestra Szeged.