pianist | composer | producer

sam saunders

Biography

Sam Saunders is a multifaceted talent whose expertise spans composition, classical performance, music production, and scoring for film and television. Sam is acclaimed for his evocative orchestral and chamber compositions, showcased by esteemed ensembles and soloists across the country. He has written dozens of classical works, including two symphonies, a piano concerto, and many chamber and solo pieces.

As a classical concert pianist, he has captivated audiences with his virtuosic and emotive performances of classical repertoire, his own intricate compositions, and his imaginative improvisations. He has held many solo recitals and performed for sold-out audiences of over 3500 people, including several performances in Ann Arbor’s esteemed Hill Auditorium

Sam’s proficiencies shine through his diverse portfolio of projects. His film projects include composing the music for the Emmy Awards’ 50th anniversary, current work on an upcoming hip-hop inspired animated series, and various work on trailers and commercials.

As a genre-spanning producer, he has collaborated with artists of global stature, marrying his classical sensibilities with more contemporary sounds. Sam recently spent several weeks in Dubai, working alongside Trey Songz on the production of his highly anticipated album.

In 2013, as a sophomore at the University of Michigan, Sam founded and ran the non-profit organization Seven Mile, which provides free music, art, creative writing, and coding lessons to over 200 children each week in underserved areas of Detroit. Sam ran the organization through 2017 and remains a board member.

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Music

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Latest Releases

piano excerpts

An excerpt from a live performance of Liszt’s “Sonata in B Minor”

An Excerpt from a live performance of the self-composed Piano Concerto “Detroit”

Another excerpt from a live performance of Liszt’s “Sonata in B Minor”

An except from Balakirev’s “Islamey”

Film Reel

I was commissioned to compose the music for the opening video for the 50th Emmys Awards

Emmys Overture Score

The music I made for the trailer to Gerard Butler’s movie “Kandahar”

Spec music I made for a scene from “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

Everything Everywhere All At Once Excerpt

classical

Sam has composed pieces for many different mediums, including: orchestra, string quartet, solo piano, and various chamber ensembles. Here are recordings of several of his most recent pieces, along with the program notes.

Brightmoor

Premiered February 27, 2018 at An Die Musik in Baltimore.​

Brightmoor is a musical journey through the rise and fall of one of America’s hardest hit neighborhoods, located in the northwest corner of Detroit. The piece spans a timeline of over one hundred years, beginning when Brightmoor was a flourishing community—hailed as an exemplary of the American dream—to the present day, when almost three quarters of the homes are vacant or burned down, and many streets go on for miles without a single occupied building.

The piece is in two acts. The first, for solo piano, loosely follows the story of a family caught in the grips of change, describing their struggles and triumphs. The second act, for string quartet, distributes musical elements of the family’s story within the larger context of the neighborhood.

Saunders, composer/pianist and former resident of Brightmoor, performed together with the string quartet led by Baltimore Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Jonathan Carney, BSO violinist Boram Kang, BSO principal violist Lisa Steltenpohl, and cellist Jacques-Pierre Malan.

More information about the movements and form of the piece can be found by going to the Youtube page of the linked videos.

Part 1

  • Movement 1 – The Felonious Funk (0:00 – 6:34)

  • Movement 2 – Teddy Bears and Liquor Bottles (6:35 – 15:09)

  • Movement 3 – Passacaglia (15:10 – end)

Part 2 

  • Movement 1 – Virgil (0.00 – 2:49)

  • Movement 2 – Bentler (2:50 – 6:08)

  • Movement 3 – Glendale (6:09 – 9:59)

  • Movement 4 – Fenkell (10:00 – 18:06)

  • Movement 5 – Eaton (18:07 – 24:14)

  • Movement 6 – Blackstone (24:15 – 32:54)

  • Movement 7 – Darcy (32:55 – end)

Detroit

– For Piano & Orchestra

Performed by Sam Saunders and the University Symphony Orchestra in Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor Michigan. 

 

This piece was inspired by the city of Detroit, Michigan. I began teaching music in some of Detroit’s most underserved areas in the winter of my sophomore year. These early experiences in Detroit evoked raw, powerful emotions that inspired me to write this piece. I spent the next eight months creating Detroit, a single movement, 15-minute piano concerto.

 

Over the past 50 years, Detroit has experienced tremendous change. Once the wealthiest city in the country, Detroit now suffers from the nation’s highest crime and poverty rates, and has an estimated 90,000 vacant buildings. The population has decreased from 2.2 million to less than 700,000.

Scenes from Appalachia

Winter 2013

This piece was written during my freshman year at Michigan, when I felt homesick for West Virginia. It depicts several scenes from adventures in my home state – mountain biking, rock climbing, hiking, and whitewater canoeing.

River rapids inspire the mood. The beginning of the piece portrays a moonrise over the New River. As I was writing this, I often looked back to one of my favorite memories for inspiration, the night a paddling friend and I navigated the Class V rapids of the New River Gorge under a full moon, starting at midnight without artificial light. The piece follows the quiet ripples of the river, growing into the roaring and churning waters below. Other scenes are interspersed throughout: the beauty of West Virginia’s rolling hills, the thrill of racing through the woods on a bike, the quaintness of the small towns.

Towards the end, the piece builds into a fugue, combining elements from many of these scenes, coming and going in an energetic flurry.

Into the Depths of Madness

November  2014

During my freshman year at the University of Michigan, I was a flanker on Michigan’s rugby team. I loved playing, but  I suffered three concussions. The cumulative effect of these concussions put me in an altered state of mind – voices right next to me sounded like they were echoing far off in the distance; I would wake up in the middle of the night with no perception of who or where I was – I felt entirely disassociated from reality. This feeling went on for almost six months, temporarily convincing me that I had gone crazy.

I began working on “Into the Depths of Madness”. Writing for hours a day in a dimmed room, I originally had no concept for the piece.  It was only after I had finished, and returned to a normal state of mind, that I could see what I had produced. The composition was my attempt at putting into music what is almost impossible to put into words – the feeling of losing one’s mind. 

seven mile

Sam is the founder and first Executive Director of Seven Mile. A volunteer organization within the University of Michigan, Seven Mile Music currently has over 100 committed U of M student-members who make five weekly trips to Detroit to teach elementary and junior high school students in low-income areas of the city. Seven Mile provides lessons in instrumental music, computer programming, children’s choir, and art and creative writing to more than 200 children each week.

seven mile

Seven Mile was the subject of an award-winning 2015 documentary produced by film students at the University of Michigan entitled “The Key of B”.

For more information, please visit the Seven Mile Music website.

 

 

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in the news

Person of the week, 7 Action News – Detroit, (March 31, 2017)

Detroit kids make music in Motown State of Opportunity – (Michigan Public Radio, August 24, 2016)

9 College Students Doing Amazing Things  (The Brief, May 31, 2016)

Seven Mile Music Brings Harmony to Detroit  (The Michigan Daily, March 23, 2016)

There is hope here: Seven Mile Music illuminates Brightmoor  (The Michigan Daily, B-SIDE, October 22, 2015)

Kids in Detroit learn music from U of M students  (Michigan Public Radio, April 23, 2015)
Kids in Detroit learn music from U of M students  (Michigan Public Radio, April 23, 2015)

Bringing music education back to Detroit’s kids (The Michigan Daily, March 31, 2015)

Area man hopes to bring music to blighted Detroit  (Charleston Gazette, March 1, 2015)

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