About Sam
From the new to the old, Sam Budish is an artist who participates in a wide variety of musical traditions. He has performed extensively with the New York City Ballet, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and the Metropolitan Opera.
At the MET, Sam’s performances can be heard all over the world, live on Sirius XM Radio, as part of their Live in HD series, and also as part of Met Opera on Demand. Sam is also a frequent collaborator with The Knights and Orpheus; with the latter he has toured throughout the US, Canada, Germany, and Japan. He has also appeared with New York City Opera, New Jersey Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, Vermont Symphony, and the Boston Pops.
Sam’s interest in historical performance has led to engagements with Les Arts Florissants, Jordi Savall, Symphonie des Dragons, Barokksolistene, New York Baroque Incorporated, and the Boston Early Music Festival. He was a member of the onstage early music band for the Tony Award-winning productions of Twelfth Night and Richard III. Starring Mark Rylance and Stephen Fry, the shows ran for four successful months at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway.
Throughout his career, Sam has had the pleasure of working with and supporting living composers. He has premiered compositions by Andy Akiho, Kyle Blaha, the Brothers Balliet, David Fulmer, Molly Herron, David Hertzberg, Noriko Koide, Jessie Montgomery, and many others. He has also worked closely with composers Nina Young, Vijay Iyer, Sid Richardson, Thomas Ades, John Aylward, and Tonia Ko. Sam is a founding member of Ensemble Echappe and has also worked with Deviant Septet, Argento, Talea, enSRQ and the Music from Japan Festival.
Additionally, Sam has performed on WNYC’s Studios’ Soundcheck Podcast and the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He recently filmed a scene for the Netflix movie “The Maestro,” starring Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein. Sam has played percussion for William Kentridge’s masterwork “The Head and the Load”, which explores the role of Africa and Africans in Word War I. Sam has toured with this production to the Tate Modern (London), Ruhrtriennale (Duisburg), Park Avenue Armory (New York City), Holland Festival (Amsterdam), Art Week Miami, and most recently at the Johannesburg Theater in South Africa.
Sam attended the Juilliard School where he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in percussion performance. His primary instructors include Dan Druckman, Joe Pereira, Sam Solomon, Glen Velez, and Greg Zuber. He is deeply grateful to all of them and finds constant inspiration revisiting lessons from the past.
Sam currently lives in Kingston, NY with his best friend Bridget and their dog Leroy.