Biography

Sam was recently Principal Horn with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, which followed a three-year tenure as Principal Horn of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London.

During his time in the UK, he performed as a guest Principal Horn with numerous leading symphony orchestras. In the Southern Hemisphere, he often collaborates as guest Principal Horn with the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras and played a significant role in the 2016 Ring Cycle in Melbourne.

Sam has made numerous commercial recordings for the film and pop industries, including albums with Sting, Sam Smith, and Florence & the Machine, and soundtracks for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Interstellar, The Martian, and the James Bond film Spectre. He has also contributed to scores for television and video games, including the Halo franchise. He has recorded on the LSO Live label and numerous live BBC Radio 3 broadcasts and as Principal Horn on the Deutsche Grammophon, Dutton Epoch, and RPO record labels.

Some of Sam's career highlights include performing with Sting at iconic venues such as the Hollywood Bowl, New York Met, and MGM Grand in Las Vegas. He also played Principal Horn on the Star Wars In Concert tour across America, Canada, and Europe with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.

As a soloist, Sam has performed concertos by Haydn, Mozart, Hoffmann, Franz Strauss, and Richard Strauss, as well as Schumann’s Konzertstück on Principal Horn. He recorded John Rimmer’s Horn Concerto with the NZSO, and his performance of Mozart’s Fourth Horn Concerto with Sinfonia Viva was broadcast on Britain's Classic FM. Samuel also toured this concerto with the NZSO in 2016.

Sam's previous teachers include Richard Kennedy, Beccy Goldberg, Julian Plummer, Martin Owen, Michael Thompson, and Richard Watkins. He has given masterclasses at the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music, and the Royal Northern College of Music. Currently, he teaches horn at the New Zealand School of Music at Victoria University Wellington.

Besides music, Sam has been an extra in the hit Bollywood movie Blue and appeared on four UK television quiz shows, including Countdown.