Short Bio
Samuel Lord Kalcheim (he/him) is passionately devoted to music as a composer, teacher, conductor, performer. His compositions, which display a wide variety of styles, are united in balancing a tender lyricism with tightly efficient yet complex formal architecture. Samuel’s music was recently presented at a sold out concert: Ancient Wisdom, Emerging Voices: New Music by Samuel Lord Kalchiem, at the Tenri Cultural Institute in New York. Kalcheim’s large body of work includes multi-movement chamber pieces, several orchestral works, and two chamber operas. Samuel holds a PhD in composition from the University of Oregon, where he studied with Rob Kyr.
An avid proponent of the music of our time, Samuel supports the work of his colleagues as conductor, performer, impresario and teacher. He has taught theory and musicianship courses at the college level for five years, and now teaches composition and theory privately, having developed his own approach based on keyboard harmony and score study.
Long Bio
Samuel Lord Kalcheim (b. 1990) is a New York City-based composer who works in a variety of styles and is dedicated to writing music both emotionally and intellectually satisfying, balancing tender lyricism with tightly efficient yet complex formal architecture. Samuel has written an extensive body of compositions. He specializes in large multi-movement chamber works, producing three string quartets and several sonatas, but is equally adept at writing for full orchestra and chamber orchestra. Samuel’s music was recently presented at a sold out concert: Ancient Wisdom, Emerging Voices: New Music by Samuel Lord Kalchiem, at the Tenri Cultural Institute in New York. As a composer, Samuel places a high value on collaboration and community.
As an expert in tonal harmony and form, Samuel brings a unique perspective to teaching music theory and musicianship. Samuel currently teaches college-level music theory and ear training at William Paterson University and teaches private composition and musicianship students. This past summer, Samuel taught composition and musicianship at Walden School Young Musicians program. Previously, Samuel has taught at Felician University and has served as a teaching assistant at both the University of Oregon’s School of Music and Dance and the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. Samuel is especially interested in training composers in keyboard harmony and guided score study, these forming the “two pillars” of his pedagogical approach, and seeks to inspire future generations of composers who want to develop a command of form and harmony. He is codifying his approach to keyboard harmony by writing a textbook.
As a conductor, violinist, violist and organist, Samuel often performs new music by fellow composers. Samuel recently served as interim music director and organist at the Congregational Church of Salisbury, CT. He has also served as Associate Conductor of the Riverside Chamber Symphony. In Eugene, OR, he co-founded and directed the Composers of Oregon Chamber Orchestra (COCO), an elite ensemble of UO students and alumni dedicated to performing large ensemble works by UO composers. Samuel also served as assistant director of UO’s Taihei ensemble for the performance of intercultural music. His work in music theory has focused heavily on pedagogy and compositional perspective of Classical form, as well as Classical phrase structure and form in Wagner’s music. Samuel began to compose by writing Broadway-style songs, in collaboration with his father, the playwright Lee Kalcheim. From that art form, he developed an intense love of melody which he brings to his classical compositions.
Samuel completed his PhD at the University of Oregon, studying with composer Rob Kyr, while also completing a supporting area in Music Theory. He previously attended the University of Miami (MM) and the University of Chicago (BA), where he studied with Easley Blackwood, Marta Ptaszynska and Augusta Read Thomas. Samuel also writes poetry and is an avid student of languages, speaking Italian, German and reading Ancient Greek.
(Samuel’s pronouns are he/him/his.)
Artist’s Statement
My compositions display a wide variety of styles, and are united in balancing a tender lyricism with tightly efficient yet complex formal architecture. Building on my expertise in 18th and 19th c. styles and forms, I write expressive music for today’s sensibilities.