Hailed by the CBC as one of Canada’s top ’30 under 30’ classical musicians, Samuel Kerr is a Calgary-born percussionist, pianist, conductor, and composer. A Dean’s Scholar and Master of Music in Composition student of Kati Agócs at the New England Conservatory, he holds both a Bachelor of Music in Performance (Honours) and Advanced Certificate in Performance from the University of Toronto where his teachers included Gary Kulesha, Charles Settle, and Aiyun Huang.
Sam’s music examines the role of memory, belonging, and the shifting concepts of home brought about through one’s coming of age. Further inspired by stark alpine soundscapes and wide-open spaces, his work combines a reverence for the natural world and mountains he grew up in with the permeating percussive rhythms and textures of his extensive background as a performer. As a composer, he has written for the UofT Wind and Percussion Ensembles, NYO Canada Chamberfest, Green Room Sound Collective, and celebrated performers such as Andrew Gordon Bell, Britton-Rene Collins, Beverley Johnston, Bevis Ng, Jacob Valcheff, and Cassandra Wolff . In the spring of 2023, he conducted the premiere of his overture, Fast Vibe in a Short Machine, in Roy Thomson Hall with the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra and will return to UofT in the fall of 2024 to premiere his Prairie Concerto for marimba and wind ensemble.
Sam is a winner of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra and University of Toronto Winds concerto competitions. A recipient of the Hartenberger Percussion and Homburger Memorial scholarships at UofT, he had the honour of being nominated as a Rhodes Scholar by the same institution in 2021. Sam had the joy of joining the National Youth Orchestra of Canada for the summers of 2022 and 2023, receiving an Award of Excellence for both sessions. He is additionally grateful for the support of his home province through both the Arts Graduate Scholarship and Sir James Lougheed Award of Distinction.
In his free time, Sam can be found either exploring the mountains or trying to fit very large instruments into very small cars.
Hailed by the CBC as one of Canada’s ’30 under 30’ classical musicians, Samuel Kerr is a Calgary-born percussionist, conductor, and composer. A graduate student at the New England Conservatory, he holds a degree and certificate from the University of Toronto and counts Gary Kulesha, Aiyun Huang, and Kati Agócs among his primary mentors.
Sam’s music combines a reverence for the natural world and mountains he grew up in with the permeating percussive rhythms and textures of his background as a performer. As a composer, he has written for the UofT Wind and Percussion Ensembles, Green Room Sound Collective, and celebrated performers such as Britton-Rene Collins, Beverley Johnston, and Jacob Valcheff. He is a winner of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra and University of Toronto Winds concerto competitions and spent two summers as an Award of Excellence student with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.
