Samuel Han is a nineteen-year-old pianist, studying under Prof. Alexander Kobrin at the Eastman School of Music. His former mentors include Dr. Paul Nitsch of Queens University and Dr. Dmitri Vorobiev of UNCSA. He is currently pursuing a BM degree in performance and music theory.

He has amassed a number of accolades, such as the Vivace Award from the Vivace International Music Festival. He also won first prize at the 2024 East Carolina University Young Artist Piano Competition and first prize at the Charlotte Piano Teachers Forum’s Concerto Competition. His upcoming performances include a duo recital in Eastman’s Howard Hanson Hall, and a performance of Gerald Finzi’s Eclogue op. 10 with string orchestra in February.

Additionally, he has received offers of admission to the nation’s leading conservatories, such as the New England Conservatory, Juilliard, the Jacobs School of Music, and the Cleveland Institute of Music. At festivals, he has received instruction and masterclasses from such distinguished pianists as Jerome Lowenthal, Michelle Cann, Pavel Nersessian, Andrey Ponochevny, Boris Slutsky, Haesun Paik, and John Nakamatsu. 

Samuel is also keenly interested in the implications of Schenkerian theory for composition and has researched extensively on the topic. His most recent paper “Brahms’s Motivic Middleground,” explores the composer’s deep level motivic tendencies as seen in several of his late solo piano works. As a theorist, the history of music theory is also one of his research areas.

When not at the piano, Samuel enjoys mathematics, linguistics, poetry, and science fiction literature and television.