Behind the Music

Sam Keily is a multi-instrumentalist, conductor and musical director, arranger, producer, and collaborator. He performs professionally on piano and saxophone across musical theater, popular, and classical styles. He has led large-scale productions, coached performers, arranged music for live and studio projects, and produced recordings for new artists, combining technical precision with musicality and collaborative leadership. From 2024–2026, he served aboard Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas as show conductor and musical director for the Tony Award–winning Broadway musical Hairspray and the original production Flight: Dare to Dream. During this time, the ship was awarded Best Entertainment at Sea, highlighting the excellence of its live productions and performance teams. As a pianist, Sam performs classical, musical theater, and popular repertoire, with classical training that includes Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. He is a highly sought-after accompanist, collaborating with singers at collegiate and professional levels for private lessons, rehearsals, auditions, and performances. He holds a B.M. in Instrumental Performance from Anderson University (IN). As a conductor, musical director, and vocal coach/supervisor, Sam leads orchestras and casts in professional musical theater productions, leading vocal warmups, rehearsals, and notes sessions to maintain performance consistency and musical integrity. He trains new performers, coaches musicians and performers on interpretation, and produces professional cabarets, ensuring artistic and technical standards across intensive schedules. As a saxophonist, Sam has performed cornerstone classical works including the Glazunov Concerto and played with the Anderson Symphony Orchestra. He has performed on saxophone in cruise productions and other professional gigs, performing Earth Wind & Fire tributes, big band, and beyond. He is a versatile woodwind doubler and frequently participates in recording sessions and content creation projects showcasing contemporary saxophone performance. As an arranger, Sam creates charts for a variety of instrumental and vocal ensembles for live and studio productions. He studied arranging under Adi Yeshaya (Whitney Houston, Prince, NBC’s The Voice) and has published arrangements available on Sheet Music Direct and Sheet Music Plus. His arranging experience includes professional work for Royal Caribbean productions, cabarets, and live shows, as well as coaching performers in interpreting arrangements to maintain musical integrity. As a producer, Sam has extensive studio experience across genres from electronic pop to orchestral and musical theater. He studied with Grammy-winning professionals, served as lead audio engineer for the original cast recording of J. Eyre: A New Musical, self-produced live shows, and recorded numerous new artists to bring their original songs to life. He holds a B.A. in Music Business with an emphasis in Record Production from Anderson University (IN) and is planning a solo piano album featuring his favorite show tunes, combining his skills as a pianist, arranger, and producer to create high-quality recordings.