A conductor for the 21st century, Bahman Saless has been described as “entrepreneurial, creative, and plugged in,” and “an innately talented musician and conductor, without frills or ego.” His passion is palpable, his enthusiasm contagious, and the results he draws from musicians are, as one colleague put it, “extraordinary.”

Saless’s musical path is anything but conventional. After studying violin in England as a teenager and composing music from a young age, he pursued violin studies with Lyman Bodman at Michigan State University while simultaneously earning a Ph.D. in theoretical physics. He later founded the Principia String Quartet in his hometown of Boulder, Colorado, and became a member of the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra.

After completing his graduate studies, Saless worked as a physicist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, even while continuing to build a parallel career as a composer. He scored over a dozen nature documentaries, as well as numerous Hollywood trailers and teasers, earning accolades including the Los Angeles Composers Forum Prize for his work Guitar Trio, Mexican Moonlight.

In 2004, he founded the Boulder Chamber Orchestra (BCO), where he has served as music director for over two decades. Under his leadership, the ensemble has flourished artistically and organizationally, attracting world-class soloists and winning national acclaim. The BCO celebrated its 20th anniversary with a triumphant Carnegie Hall debut in 2025, where Saless conducted his own Ode to the Rockies, Saint-Saëns’s Egyptian Concerto with pianist Adam Żukiewicz, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7—a performance lauded for its “compelling detail” and “rhythmic integrity.”

As a conductor, Saless studied with Kirk Trevor, Donald Schleicher, William LaRue Jones, Nicholas Carthy and Tomáš Netopil, and his guest conducting engagements have included the Martinu Philharmonic, Astoria Symphony, Zlín Philharmonic, Round Rock Symphony, National Orchestra of Brasília, Sanremo Symphony Orchestra, and a notable production of La Traviata with Italy’s Domenico Scarlatti Orchestra. 

Saless is also the co-founder of the International Conducting Institute (ICI), which provides high-level training workshops to conductors around the world. ICI’s flagship program in the Czech Republic, in partnership with the Martinu Philharmonic, is now one of the most respected opportunities for emerging conductors.

In addition to his musical achievements, Saless brings a background in science and entrepreneurship, having co-founded the Boulder-based data center Earthnet, and earned recognition for his community leadership with the Rex Morgan Award in 2013.

Bahman Saless is more than a conductor—he is a bridge-builder between disciplines, cultures, and generations. With artistry, vision, and unwavering energy, he continues to shape the future of orchestral music with purpose and passion.