Violinist, Samuel Nebyu, is the Grand prize winner of the 2015 National ASTA (American String Teachers Association) Solo Competition, the “Remember Enescu” International Violin Competition (Romania, 2013), the Flame International Violin Competition (Paris, 2008), and a winner of the Beverly Hills National Auditions (CA, 2014). Born in Hungary of Ethiopian-Jewish descent, Samuel spent most of his early childhood in Asia. He began playing the violin at the age of six. At fifteen, he was admitted to the Young Talents Program at the Brussels Royal Conservatory where he received tutelage from renowned musicians, including Igor Oistrakh. He was a violinist-in-residence for several years at the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium.
Currently, he is studying at Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University under Laura C. Carnell Professor of Violin and Artistic Director of Strings, Dr. Eduard Schmieder. Samuel has performed at important international music festivals, including the Eilat Music Festival (Israel), the Mozarteum Festival (Salzburg), the Ravello Festival (Italy), and the Summit Music Festival (New York). As a soloist, he has performed with orchestras such as the Bacau Philharmonic and the Valcea Symphony (Romania), the Brussels Philharmonic, and with the iPalpiti orchestra in Los Angeles.
He has given recitals and performed as a soloist in venues such as the Centre of Performing Arts in Brussels (BOZAR), Peles Castle in Romania, the Wiener Saal in Salzburg, the Alice Tully Hall in New York, and the Wallis Annenberg Center in Beverly Hills. In 2016, he received the prestigious Clifton Emerging Artist Award, gave a recital at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, and became a prize winner of the Mozarteum Salzburg Festpiel competition – the only one of 291 violinists to be selected as one of the eight prize winners – and was further honored to conclude the winners concert at the Mozarteum Grosse Saal.
His new CD “Violin Gems from Black Composers” was released on BCM+D label this spring.