British Jazz Pianist/Vocalist, specialising in the Great American Songbook. Extensive repertoire of well-known jazz standards, drawing inspiration from the likes of Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson & Chet Baker.

Samuel is a composer, arranger, musical director and performer from Kent. His musical beginnings were with the piano and drum kit, and subsequently guitar and bass guitar. His performing is mostly within jazz, and he has played at many high-profile venues such as The Royal Albert Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall, the Adrian Boult Hall, the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, The Leas Cliff Hall and the Maidstone Television Studios. He has played in orchestras, big bands, jazz combos, duos, rock bands and percussion ensembles, alongside singing in massed, church and chamber choirs and a barbershop quartet. 

He started to compose aged around 10, and his arrangements of several jazz tunes have been played by the award winning Ashford Youth Jazz Orchestra, including an inventive arrangement of 'Take the A Train', featured in a concert with the Aurora Orchestra in 2011. He was commissioned in 2011 to write a short ballet piece for the Kent School's Games Cultural Celebration, 'Not as Nature Intended', and continuing with dance music wrote an electronic work, 'One Man, One Dream', based on Martin Luther King's famous speech, for the Highworth School 2012 Dance Show.

In 2013 he was a founding member of the 8pB Theatre Company in "The Lost Gatsby" at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, for which he wrote the score, performed on stage and played live piano; the group returned in August 2014 with "The Hollywood 10".

2014 also marked the founding of the Purple Summer Theatre Company (and debut as MD) with director Sophie Sweetland; their first project was a 48hr youth production of Spring Awakening, and success continued with #RENT48 in early January 2015. They are currently planning shows for the next year.

In 2014 Samuel was chosen as Composer in Association for the City Chamber Choir, and his first work in collaboration, 'You Will Soar' was performed in London in early May. After the success of the piece, the choir re-commissioned Samuel for a second piece, 'Nunc Dimittis', which was performed to great acclaim at their Christmas Concert.

Samuel's work at Guildhall has led him to work with the Drama department on South Downs/The Browning Version (dir. Wyn Jones)and Twelfth Night  (dir. Mike Alfreds), found and conduct the new GSMDPops Orchestra, and work closely with Principal Study performers on commissioned works, including his 'Little Piece for Trumpets', premiered by trumpet quartet Tetra at the Dartington Festival 2014 and 'Concertante for Dectet', currently in rehearsal for the Philip Jones Memorial Concert.

His choral work 'A Single Blade of Grass' also achieved 1st place in the Jessica Foxley Young Choral Composer Competition, with a performance in Colne, Lancashire - the piece is now in the choir's repertoire. 

Samuel currently lives in London and studies composition and jazz piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Matthew King and Kate Williams.

For commissions, bookings or any other business, please contact Samuel at samuelwilsonmusic@live.com


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