Acknowledged for his "precise technique, interpretive vision, and impeccable musicianship" (Boston Globe), Sam Suggs cultivates a versatile career as a collaborative and creative bassist.
Sam is one of Strad Magazine's "five up-and-coming bass players" and a winner of the International Society of Bassists and Concert Artists Guild solo competitions.
As a bassist-composer, he breaks traditional boundaries with "brilliant and compelling programming" (The Strad) and execution that "quite simply boggled the mind" (Oregon Arts Watch).
An alum of the Greater Buffalo Youth Orchestra, Northwestern University, and Yale School of Music, he now serves on the faculties of the Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival and James Madison University.
TEACHING
Teaching Philosophy:
With an undergraduate degree in music theory/cognition from Northwestern and a MM/DMA in performance from Yale, I believe in a well-rounded and holistic musical education which integrates entrepreneurship, analysis, score study, improvisation, cognition, and social and historical context into my teaching and playing. Effective technique is a means to communicate composition. I also have a passion for collaborative piano, jazz and continuo-keyboard playing, and I often accompany my students in lessons and recitals, borrowing techniques that I’ve observed in vocal coachings and from theater directors.