Argentinian-Mexican conductor Alex Amsel is quickly establishing himself as a dynamic presence on both orchestral and operatic stages, praised by the Chicago Classical Review for “a vibrant and textured account maintaining superb balance … punctuating a dynamic performance.” He is Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, promoted from Assistant Conductor after his first season at the orchestra’s request, having made his debut with the orchestra in a sold-out, immersive Día de los Muertos program he curated for its experimental Proof Series at Music Hall. Amsel is a finalist for the position of Music Director of the Panama City Symphony, where he leads a finalist concert in November 2026. He made his debuts with Utah Opera and the Utah Symphony opening Utah Opera’s 2026-27 season with Armienta’s Zorro, where under his direction, the orchestra “carried the production exquisitely from beginning to end” (Utah Theatre Arts Journal). The season’s debuts continue with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.
Amsel gained international recognition through a televised performance at the George Enescu Competition in Romania, leading to invitations from the Camerata Regală, the Romanian Youth Orchestra, and the Arad Philharmonic. In the 2026-27 season, he makes his debuts with Timișoara Opera, the Craiova Philharmonic, and the Bacău Philharmonic, and returns to the George Enescu Festival in 2027.
Amsel spent two acclaimed seasons as Associate Conductor of The Phoenix Symphony, returning for a third as guest conductor and leading dozens of concerts across the orchestra’s classical, family, and community programming. Driven by a belief in music’s transformative power, he works to integrate music into the fabric of each community he serves. He launched the orchestra’s Chamber Orchestra Series, curating programs with intertwined lectures that sold out all eight performances, as well as its Family Series and Casual Friday Night concert discussions. He also served on the orchestra’s Artistic Advisory Committee and Patron Experience Taskforce, founded and chaired its Young Professionals Club, and was invited by the musicians to serve on their audition panels.
Equally at home in the opera house, Amsel was Resident Conductor at Houston Grand Opera in the 2022-23 season, where he led productions of Verdi’s La traviata and the world premiere of Jeremy Howard Beck’s Another City. He held the John L. Magro Resident Conductor Chair at Cincinnati Opera from 2023 to 2025, and returns to the company in summer 2027 to conduct Viva Verdi! starring soprano Ailyn Pérez.
An advocate for living composers, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, Amsel champions works by Gabriela Ortiz, Gabriela Lena Frank, Carlos Simon, Jessie Montgomery, Eleanor Alberga, Victor Agudelo, and Carlos Zamora, among others. In Phoenix, he founded the Student Composition Project, a first-of-its-kind program in which composers ages 18 and under worked directly with Amsel on original compositions, culminating in world premiere performances by The Phoenix Symphony. He was selected as an associate at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music under Cristian Măcelaru and has led recording sessions of world premieres at the Peabody Conservatory and Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.
Amsel spent three seasons as Conducting Fellow and Assistant Conductor of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and has returned as a guest every season since, leading the orchestra in more than 50 performances and most recently opening its 2026-27 season with Stravinsky’s The Firebird. He made his Argentinian debut with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Entre Ríos in April 2026, and has led orchestras at the Aspen Music Festival, where he returned as faculty and Assistant Conductor after two years as a fellow of the Aspen Conducting Academy, as well as the National Repertory Orchestra, Round Top Music Festival, and Philadelphia International Music Festival.
Alongside his own conducting schedule, Amsel serves as cover conductor for Cristian Măcelaru at the Orchestre National de France, prepares Măcelaru’s orchestras in his absence, and works alongside him in the control room on his Deutsche Grammophon recordings, including Mahler’s Second Symphony and Enescu’s complete orchestral works. He has also covered conductors with the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Czech Philharmonic, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, and Baltimore Symphony.
In his free time, Amsel is a wine, biking, architecture, and golden retriever aficionado.