SAMUEL BENDER
violist
Hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, Violist Samuel Bender attended Vanderbilt University where he double majored in music and computer science. A recipient of the Dean's Honor and Laura Kemp Goad music scholarships while at Vanderbilt, Bender used his time there to further realize his aspirations as both a musician and tech nerd. His former primary teachers include Kathryn Plummer, Daniel Reinker, and John Kochanowski. Bender has spent multiple summers at both the Brevard Music Festival and the Eastern Music Festival, where he had the opportunity to work with Maestros Gerard Schwarz, José-Luis Novo, Grant Cooper, Keith Lockhart, and Ken Lam. Private instructors included Erika Eckert, Jenny Snyder Kozoros, and Peter Chun. Currently a full time software engineer at a Nashville-based global technology firm, Bender indulges his ardor for music by pursuing as many performance and recording opportunities as his schedule will allow.
