About
Samuel discovered music at the age of three when he began learning the violin, an instrument that would play a central role in his artistic journey.
He pursued advanced studies in music at Marianopolis College, then at the University of Montreal, earning a first bachelor’s degree in performance (classical violin—2019) and a second in music composition (2020), as well as a minor in digital music (2022).
Outside of school, he furthered his mastery of the violin at the international music academies of the Orford Arts Centre, Domaine Forget in Charlevoix, and the MusicAlp Festival in Tignes (France), taking master classes and private lessons with renowned violinists and teachers such as Rachel Barton Pine, Denise Lupien, Pascale Giguère, Jonathan Crow, Michael Frischenschlager, Dong-Suk Kang, Alexis Galpérine, and Christophe Poiget.
During his university years, he studied violin with Claude Richard and performed with the University of Montreal Orchestra under the baton of conductors such as Jean-François Rivest, Kent Nagano, and Yoav Talmi, as well as with numerous chamber music ensembles as a violinist and violist. He also studied composition and orchestration with renowned professors such as Ana Sokolovic, Denis Gougeon, François-Hugues Leclair, and Maxime McKinley. During his studies in digital music, he explored electroacoustic music composition, sound design, audiovisual creation, mixing, and mastering, as well as video game music composition with François-Xavier Dupas (co-founder of Vibe Avenue studio).
With over fifteen years of experience as an orchestral musician under his belt, it’s no surprise that Samuel favours orchestral composition. During his time as concertmaster of the Montreal Youth Symphony Orchestra, he had the opportunity to perform several times at Place-des-Arts, playing works such as Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 and Verdi’s Requiem at the Maison Symphonique, as well as accompanying the Marie Chouinard ballet company in Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring at Théâtre Maisonneuve. He also participated, as a violist, in singer-songwriter Philippe Brach’s symphonic pop concert at the Maison Symphonique, accompanied by the Agora Orchestra.
As a composer, Samuel developed his professional expertise in scoring to various media at SAGA Stratégie Sonore, composing numerous original themes for various media (documentaries, podcasts, commercials, video games, and augmented reality apps).
Expanding his horizons internationally, his recomposition of the music for a scene from László Nemes’ film Son of Saul earned him a spot in the global top 5 of the Score the World International Film Scoring Competition.
