Percussionist Samuel Z. Solomon has been responsible for dozens of world premieres of solo and small ensemble works and has been involved in numerous additional projects to perpetuate the music of young composers. He is author of How to Write for Percussion, a comprehensive guide for composers on percussion composition that has received critical acclaim from composers, performers, and conductors worldwide.
Samuel Solomon is co-founder of the Yesaroun’ Duo. Yesaroun’ has been featured in recitals in Italy, Cuba, and all over the northeast United States; between 1999 and 2004 the Duo commissioned and premiered twenty-six new works for saxophone and percussion. Solomon is also a founding member of the Line C3 percussion group and a member of White Rabbit, a contemporary music ensemble in residence at Harvard University. He is currently actively involved in the acquisition of works for a multi-percussion setup of set instrumentation; thus far nine solo and two small ensemble works have been written for the Setup.
Samuel Solomon made his Carnegie Hall debut in February of 2000, performing the world premiere of John Mackey’s Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra as guest soloist with the New York Youth Symphony. In December 1999 he was featured in Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, performing the American premiere of Iannis Xenakis’ O-Mega for percussion solo and chamber orchestra with the New Juilliard Ensemble. Appropriately titled, O-Mega would prove to be the final work Xenakis composed before his death. Solomon can also be heard performing the music of Björk on the soundtrack to Matthew Barney's Drawing Restraint 9.
Samuel Solomon spent six summers as a student at Tanglewood, three as a Fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center, and six years at Juilliard, receiving two degrees under the tutelage of Daniel Druckman, Roland Kohloff, and Gordon Gottlieb. He currently teaches percussion at The Boston Conservatory and Boston University and is the President of the Massachusetts Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society.
