About
“As an artist I seek to explore the pure wonder of being, in resonance with others.
Music’s untold persuasiveness is a boundless source, a lifetime's sacred call.
Wholeheartedly balancing intuition with intellect, I venture deep into awe.”
“A thing of mesmerising beauty.”
— David Kettle, The Scotsman
Based between France and Ireland, Cork-born Sam Perkin composes music for leading musicians and ensembles in Ireland and abroad. He completed a residency in 2022 with Crash Ensemble, Ireland’s leading new music ensemble. In the space between classical and experimental music, his artistic work has a particular focus on the exploration of awe.
Grey Area (2017-19), his first major work for Crash Ensemble, imaginatively blends the worlds of Street Skateboarding with Contemporary Music and received its first three performances at Music Town Dublin, Sounds From A Safe Harbour Cork, and Musica Nova Festival Helsinki. Waves (2016-18) is an attempted self-cure for tinnitus and is one of the fruits of a bountiful collaboration between The Irish Chamber Orchestra and the composer over a number of years, supported by The Arts Council of Ireland. Language (2017), a substantial work for Solo Violin, was commissioned by West Cork Chamber Music Festival for contemporary violin specialist Miranda Cuckson and explores the inner workings of different human languages. Twitter (2018) for Flute Choir, Audience, Smartphones and Video was commissioned by La Côte Flûte Festival Switzerland. In Orchestra In The Digital Age (2019), he blends the Symphony Orchestra and Sine Tones together in a piece that glows and completely immerses the listener, composed for the CMC’s Composer Lab performed by the RTÉ NSO. In ‘<3’ (2019), composed for double bassist Caimin Gilmore, he notably explores the musicality of children giggling. In Alta (2019), Sam collaborated with Finnish scientist and Northern Lights specialist, Unto K. Laine, to include the recently discovered and recorded apparent sounds of the Aurora Borealis in a work commissioned by Alta Chamber Music Festival, Norway. Premièred in 2021, Sam’s highly visual and imaginative new work Visualization (2021) was performed by Luminosa Orchestra at Galway Cathedral. Inspired by the Sonic Meditations of Pauline Oliveros, the work of Andrei Tarkovsky and Dalcroze specialist Diane Daly, the new work signalled a ritualistic return to live performance, exploring through physical gesture what it means to be together at a concert. Suburban Distortion (2021), for Three Guitars (Distorted Electric Guitar, Clean Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar), was composed for Network For New Music, Philadelphia, for guitarist Thomas Schuttenhelm. Children In the Universe (2020-22), a large-scale symphony for Crash Ensemble with Diamanda Dramm as Guide, was performed at Galway Arts Festival and New Music Dublin in 2022 and released by Crash Ensemble in 2023.
His debut performance at Wigmore Hall, London, took place in 2023 in which his Piano Trio "Freakshow" was performed by The Sitkovetsky Trio. A new work for Solo Viola, More Beautiful Than It Has To Be, will be premièred by Nathan Sherman in June 2024 at Hošek Contemporary, Berlin. Dohyo Sol and Marcus Mohlin from Copenhagen-based Camerata Øresund will première a new work, Childhood’s Awe, for Archlute and Harpsichord at West Cork Chamber Music Festival 2024. Will Duerden will première a new work, Washing Away The Sorrow, for Solo Double Bass and Piano at Buxton International Festival in July 2024. His work Visualization will be performed by Dejana Sekulič at the opening launch concert of the 33rd Music Biennale Zagreb in 2024.
Sam Perkin has enjoyed fruitful collaborations with artists such as Crash Ensemble, Finghin Collins, The Irish Chamber Orchestra, Miranda Cuckson, Vanbrugh Quartet, Fidelio Trio, Thomas Schuttenhelm; and festivals such as Ortús Festival, Engage Arts Festival, Kilkenny Arts Festival, Killaloe Festival, New Ross Piano Festival, West Wicklow Festival, West Cork Chamber Music Festival, Gregynog Festival Wales, La Côte Festival Switzerland, Sound Scotland Festival, Musica Nova Festival Finland, Festivalta Norway, and Network for New Music Philadelphia. In 2017, he was awarded The Next Generation Bursary from The Arts Council of Ireland. He has done education workshops at The Irish Association of Youth Orchestras and taught as a guest at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin and Maynooth University. Sam holds degrees in Composition from CIT Cork School of Music, Ireland, and an Artist Diploma from Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon, France, where he was awarded the Prix Salabert for Composition.