2026 Adjudicators

Sam McNally is a passionate performer and educator based in Victoria, British Columbia. He is a graduate of the University of Victoria (BMus ’17) and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (MMus ’18). His teachers include Laurie Matiation, Kurt Kellan, David Pyatt, Sue Dent, Nico Fleury, and Alec Frank-Gemmill.

In 2022, he returned to Victoria to join the Victoria Symphony as 3rd Horn and began teaching at the University of Victoria and Victoria Conservatory of Music. In addition to his work in Victoria, Sam is also Principal Horn of the Kamloops Symphony, a position he has held since 2015 and he occasionally makes the ferry trip to sub with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

Orchestral work aside, Sam enjoys chamber music, performing regularly with the UVic brass faculty, with colleagues around town, and in solo recitals. Sam also coaches chamber music in various formats at UVic and at the VCM.

His teaching studio, across the two institutions and also privately, has grown in recent years to include students of wide ranging ages, goals, and development. Guiding others in their quest to tame this wily beast is something he does not take for granted and is indeed a cherished part of his career. He firmly believes that to play music is the right of everyone and that fostering growth in a musical education is something worth striving for.