MUSE • Musicians United for Social Equity

Biography

Sam Wright is a graduate of Amherst College where he studied Music and Math. He has been a singer for most of his life, starting in a children’s choir at a very young age. Throughout his education, Sam has been a member of Gold-medal-winning ensembles and participated in MMEA All-State Festivals and the NAfME All-National Chorus. Recently, he studied abroad in Vienna with the IES exchange program to study voice, and was selected as a finalist in Scott Coulter’s “Give My Regards!” competition where he performed for Broadway legends at the historic 54Below cabaret venue.

While singing has been the primary outlet for Sam’s musicianship, what has inspired and motivated him more than anything is his love for composing. His choral music has beauty in its apparent simplicity, yet seems to touch something nostalgic in listeners. His instrumental music, with flavor from various folk traditions and very much inspired by his vocal history, is colored with complex flourishes and grounded strings, and evokes sprawling landscapes, primal emotions, and old stories. In February 2023 Sam completed his senior thesis in compositon; a song-cycle entitled “The Second Seed” scored for reduced orchestra and four voices. This piece tells a story of escapism and legacy, with music inspired by Korean traditional sounds, Irish folk songs, and Steve Reich.