From the Greenville Journal:
It all began with a small piano.
Growing up in a tiny Montana town where cows outnumbered people, Lee Mills was 3 years old when his family acquired a spinet piano, a gift from neighbors who were moving.
“I immediately started exploring the piano, banging on it, taking it apart and putting it back together,” Mills said. “I begged my parents for piano lessons and began at age 4.”
That early fascination with music led the young Mills to sing in his elementary school choir and later play trumpet in the band. Still later, he performed in jazz ensembles and crooned in barbershop quartets.
A college class opened his eyes to orchestral conducting. It was a revelation: Mills had discovered his life’s work.
Now a successful conductor based near Los Angeles, Mills is one of six guest conductors vying for the position of music director of the Greenville Symphony in the orchestra’s 76th season.