Armenian-American violinist Samuel Andonian was born in Massachusetts, and was exposed to music at a young age. He began music lessons at age three starting on the cello, adding violin lessons at age seven, both of which he studied through the Suzuki method in Greater Boston. He also took piano and trumpet lessons, and sang both in choir and as a boy-soprano soloist.
Samuel is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he received a Master’s degree studying with Catherine Cho, and of the New England Conservatory, where he received a Bachelor’s degree studying with Donald Weilerstein. In school, he also studied chamber music with artists such as Kim Kashkashian, Merry Peckham, Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, and Paul Katz.
Samuel has been a soloist with orchestras including the Boston Pops Orchestra, the New England Philharmonic, and the Boston Youth Symphony. Other of his notable solo performances include the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s season-opening gala, NPR’s radio show From the Top, and solo recitals for the Music for Food and Music for Peace concert series.
As an educator, previous to joining the violin faculty of the Greenwich Suzuki Academy, Samuel had been on the chamber music faculty of the New England Conservatory’s Preparatory School, violin faculty at Vivace Music Foundation’s VivacePrep festival, and had been a violin-sectionals coach at the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras.
As a passionate believer in music’s ability to benefit society, Samuel worked, interned, and performed with Music for Food, a musician-led initiative, founded by violist Kim Kashkashian, which collects donations from their performances for organizations fighting food insecurities within local communities.
As a chamber musician, Samuel has won the junior silver prize in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, participated in NEC’s Honors Chamber Music program, and has attended The Perlman Music Program’s Chamber Music Workshop, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival. Other festivals attended include Heifetz International Music Institute, the New York String Orchestra Seminar, and Verão Clássico Festival and Academy in Lisbon, Portugal.
At these various festivals, Samuel has worked with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Miriam Fried, Ilya Kaler, Mihaela Martin, Ani Kavafian, and members of the Juilliard, Cleveland, and Brentano string quartets.
You can visit www.samuelandonianviolin.com for more.
