Samantha May has been teaching middle school orchestra for 12 years and has taught at Hawthorn Middle School South in Vernon Hills, IL since 2014. She earned her M.M. in Violin Performance with Teacher Certification from DePaul University and her B.A. in Violin Performance from Case Western Reserve University. She co-presented at the 2021 ASTA National Conference and the 2020 & 2022 Illinois Music Educators Conferences about String Technique Development using Paul Rolland Pedagogy. The HMS Orchestra performed at IMEC in 2017 under her direction, and she guest conducted the Vernon Hills High School Orchestra at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in 2015.

She is a member of the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, assistant concertmaster of the Chicagoland Educators Orchestra, and former member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the DePaul University Symphony Orchestra, the Baroque Orchestra of the Cleveland Institute/Case Western, and concertmaster of the Case Western Reserve University Circle Orchestra. Ms. May is a Paul Rolland Certified Presenter and Mentor, the Illinois ASTA Treasurer, and a member of ILMEA and SAA.