Bio

California native Samuel Grodin is enjoying an increasingly busy career as a solo and collaborative pianist. A prizewinner in the Seattle International Piano Competition and the Ibiza International Piano Competition, he has performed throughout the United States and Europe. As a pianist who prioritizes creative fearlessness and emotional honesty, he captivates and connects with his audiences. Grodin is known for offering programs of diverse repertoire, ranging from Bach to living composers, that weave together a narrative or theme.

Grodin has recently performed at Zipper Hall in Los Angeles, the Carpenter Center and Beverly O’Neill Theater in Long Beach, the San Diego Central Library, San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts, and Seattle’s Benaroya Hall. A champion of new music, he has also performed with the SFCM New Music Ensemble and the Ensemble Parallele, which in 2010 presented the West Coast premiere of John Rea’s reorchestration of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck for chamber ensemble. Grodin has performed at international music festivals in Aspen, Bowdoin, and Gijón. He has also appeared in masterclasses with Emanuel Ax, Rita Sloan, Blanca Uribe, Dominique Weber, Jeffrey Kahane, and Stephen Hough.

Grodin earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the USC Thornton School of Music, where he was winner of the Keyboard Department’s award for Outstanding D.M.A. Graduate in Piano. As a graduate teaching assistant at USC, Grodin taught group and applied piano to undergraduate and graduate students and was named Outstanding Keyboard Studies TA. He completed his master’s degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he was the recipient of the Harold W. Scheeline Piano Scholarship. His principal teachers have included Sharon Mann, Nina Scolnik, Lucinda Carver, Alan Smith, and Craig Richey. His chamber music coaches have included Alan Smith, Jennifer Culp, Timothy Bach, Kurt Muroki, Shun-Lin Chou, and Craig Richey. He has also enjoyed summer studies with Julian Martin, Robert McDonald, Antoinette Perry, Marc Durand, and Joseph Kalichstein.

In addition to his performing career, Grodin is in demand as a teacher and lecturer. He is a member of the piano faculty at the Colburn School in Los Angeles and the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at CSULB.