Wesley Schulz
Music Director Candidate
Wesley Schulz is widely recognized for his superb programming and spirited yet heartfelt music making with orchestras. At home with masterworks, contemporary music as well as pops, the Cultural Voice of North Carolina deems Schulz’s conducting “spectacular.” Schulz is Music Director and Conductor of the Auburn Symphony Orchestra (WA) and Principal Guest Conductor of the Pacific Northwest Ballet. Additionally, Schulz was the Associate Conductor of the North Carolina Symphony, a Conducting Fellow at the Seattle Symphony, Assistant Conductor of the Britt Festival Orchestra and Education, and Family Conductor for the Austin Symphony Orchestra. Recent and upcoming guest conductor engagements include the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony Orchestra, Canton Symphony Orchestra, Holland Symphony, and Symphony Tacoma among others.
As Music Director of the Auburn Symphony Orchestra, one of the Pacific Northwest’s finest regional orchestras, Schulz is committed to deepening the relationship between the symphony and the community. Recent projects include the formation of a commissioning consortium of eight American orchestras for a new piece by Jessica Meyer; an original staging of Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring; the creation of Rhythm and Rhymes, a music and literary program for young children; the implementation of Carnegie Hall’s Link Up, and collaborations with artists such as Randall Goosby, Anton Nel, Bella Hristova, Dominic Cheli, Seattle Pro Musica, The Guild Dance Company, and more.
Across four seasons as Associate Conductor of the North Carolina Symphony, Schulz conducted more than 200 performances in all genres including Masterworks, Pops, Friday Favorites, Holiday, Family, and Education concerts. Schulz made his Masterworks debut, with hours’ notice, conducting Bernstein’s Serenade with superstar violinist Philippe Quint as well as Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony. One reviewer wrote, “The North Carolina Symphony and Schulz definitely drew the utmost life out of Schubert.” Schulz has collaborated with Leslie Odom Jr., Pink Martini, Cirque de la Symphonie, Broadway By Request, Michael Cavanaugh, the Blind Boys of Alabama, and more. Every season Schulz conducted the orchestra’s Opening State Tour as well as Opening Night at SummerFest, the orchestra’s summer home at Koka Booth Amphitheater in Cary, North Carolina.
Schulz is regularly on the podium with orchestras across the Pacific Northwest. At the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Schulz has led performances with Lindsey Stirling, Gregory Allan Isakov, Amos Lee, and Ben Rector. Also with the Seattle Symphony, Schulz has led Family and Education performances as well as the unique opportunity to prepare the orchestra for the Oscar winning conductor and composer John Williams. At the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Schulz leads annual performances of The Nutcracker and has also shared a run of performances of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. In 2026 Schulz served as Interim Director of Orchestras at Pacific Lutheran University.
Schulz graduated magna cum laude with Bachelor degrees in Percussion Performance and Music Education from Ball State University and Doctorate and Master’s degrees in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Texas at Austin. When not on the podium, Schulz enjoys spending time with his partner, Cameron, doing CrossFit, snowboarding, cooking and playing endless fetch with their two dogs, Chewbacca and Han Solo.
What’s your proudest accomplishment?
I love looking at life from the lens of small successes creates a satisfying life. I’ve had the great pleasure of having a loving partner, learned to do bar muscle-ups at Crossfit, cycled the High Atlas mountains in Morrocco, conducted memorable performances of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, created numerous educational programs for young people to trigger imaginations, and have managed not to burn down my kitchen with numerous cooking experiments. These are just some of my accomplishments which have brought me great joy!
What makes you laugh the most?
Listening to friends recall memories and experiences around good food and wine.
What would you sing at karaoke night?
Whatever song my friends force upon me. But I’d walk up to the stage with the backing of Daft Punk’s “Superheroes.”
What’s your favorite movie?
All of the great movies from the ’80s/’90s: Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Mrs. Doubtfire.
If you could spend a day anywhere in the world, where would it be?
At small winery in Italy; snowboarding in Hokkaido, Japan; or at a cabin in the Cascade mountains surrounded by friends.
What’s your favorite childhood memory?
My grandparents’ farm in South Dakota. I have so many memories of my grandmother’s cooking, my grandfather’s advice giving as well as jumping in haystacks, driving tractors, calling in the cows for supper and lazy summer days spent at a lake.
What’s one thing people are surprised to learn about you?
I’ve run 10 marathons.
What’s your go-to comfort food?
Texas BBQ.
If you weren’t a conductor, what career would you have pursued?
Medicine or Teaching.
What book are you currently reading (or have read recently that you loved)?
Ocean Vuong’s “The Emperor of Gladness”.
What piece of music never fails to move you?
Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances.
If it was your final moment on Earth and you had to pick one song to listen to, what would it be?
I think I would choose silence and to gaze at the faces of the people I love most.
Coffee or tea?
Coffee, but I love a good Taiwanese or Japanese green tea!
Morning person or night owl?
Calm mornings with the sunrise!
Beach or mountains?
Beach during the summer and snow-covered mountains during the winter, please!
Dogs or cats?
We have two labradoodles whose names are Chewbacca and Han Solo.
Sweet or savory?
Yes!
Favorite season?
I love variety and change; I couldn’t live in just one climate!
Window or aisle seat?
Window, with the sunshade open!
Sunrise or sunset?
Sunrise over the mountains, sunset at the beach.
Favorite holiday?
Halloween and Christmas
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Be kind and generous to everyone you meet.