Described by Marin Alsop as a “powerful presence on the podium,” conductor Valery Saul is recognized for her dynamic leadership, technical command, and charismatic rapport with both musicians and audiences. She is currently in her third season as Associate Conductor of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and serves as a cover conductor for the Minnesota Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, and Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. Selected from an international pool of candidates, Valery was a participant in the Dallas Opera’s prestigious Hart Institute for Women Conductors. She will make her Masterworks debut with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra in May 2026.

Equally at home across multiple genres, Valery has led the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra to critical acclaim in Pops and Children’s Concerts. In December 2024, she conducted Ballet Arkansas’s production of The Nutcracker, and in December 2025 she led a production of Handel’s Messiah at Inspiration Point, the newly opened opera house in Northwest Arkansas.

Valery has participated in numerous distinguished masterclasses, working with orchestras such as the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre Métropolitain, National Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and the Romanian Chamber Orchestra. She has also been a fellow at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and was awarded Second Prize in the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra’s Conducting Competition. For two summers, she served as a conducting fellow at the Bellingham Festival of Music.

A graduate of the Peabody Conservatory (2022), Valery has been mentored by Marin Alsop, Cristian Măcelaru, Nicole Paiement, Marcelo Lehninger, and George Manahan. In addition to her conducting career, she is also an accomplished professional opera singer.