Samuel Pang (彭施皿) is an Assistant Professor of Music Instruction and the Director of Orchestras at Hope College, Holland, MI.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Pang is a conductor, violist, educator, and worship music coordinator. Pang holds a Master of Music degree, a Bachelor of Music degree, and a Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. Pang studied viola performance with Professor Carol Rodland and orchestral conducting with Professor Neil Varon at the Eastman School of Music. As the first-prize winner of the Eastman Viola Concerto competition, Pang made his concerto debut at the Eastman Theatre as a freshman. Subsequently, Pang was awarded every viola and chamber music scholarship and award at the Eastman School during his bachelor of music degree program.
As a conductor, Pang served as the founding artistic director of the Hong Kong Festival Orchestra from 2009 to 2011. From 2012 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2020, Pang served as the orchestra director of the DBS Symphony Orchestra. Radio Television Hong Kong broadcasted several of his award-winning performances on television, including Mahler Symphony No. 5, Shostakovich Symphony No. 5, Brahms Symphony No. 2, and Richard Strauss’ Don Juan. Pang has performed in conducting masterclasses for Carl St.Clair, David Zinman, Marin Alsop, Christoph Koncz, and Kristjan Järvi, amongst other world-renowned artists.
As an educator, Pang received an honorable mention from Hope College for the 2024 Vanderbush Weller Award, recognizing his efforts to go above and beyond in the service of students as a professor. While Hope College does not ordinarily present this award to faculty in their first year of service, the College chose to grant Pang an honorable mention after receiving an unprecedented 51 nominations from students. Pang has taught and performed in multiple cities in Asia, Europe, and North America. He has conducted symphony orchestras in prominent concert halls worldwide, including the Musikverein in Vienna, Vigadó Concert Hall in Budapest, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., and Smetana Hall in Prague. Pang has also served as a guest lecturer, adjudicator, and conductor in various universities worldwide, including the University of Vienna, the University of Hong Kong, Western Illinois University, and Trinity Western University in Canada.
Pang takes inspiration from Leonard Bernstein’s belief in the importance of “inter-disciplinary values—that the best way to ‘know’ a thing is in the context of another discipline.” In 2021, this idea drove Pang to begin studying theology at Regent College in Vancouver, BC, where he is working on his Master of Theological Studies degree. As a professor, Pang seeks to integrate his training as a conductor, teacher, and theology student and further develop the education and music work he has been doing globally to help communities find greater commonality with one another in countering an increasingly dehumanizing and divided world.