Sam Rudy


Sam Rudy is fascinated by the structure and beauty of music and has built his musical career as a performer and teacher in pursuit of ever deeper understanding of the social, intellectual, and emotional aspects of whatever music he encounters.

He holds his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in performance and music theory from the University of Minnesota, where he was a pupil of Mark Bjork, having begun his studies on the violin as a student of Monica Nieves, Rebecca Lee, and Roy Malan of the San Francisco Ballet. Currently a member of the Quad City Symphony, he has held posts with Orchestra Iowa, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, La Crosse, Mankato, and South Dakota Symphony Orchestras. He has attended the National Orchestral Institute and the Symphony Orchestra Academy of the Pacific, but it is his love for chamber music that has led him to play for the Oskaloosa Music Festival every year since its inception in 2010.

Because of his deep love for the classics, he is ever on the lookout for opportunities to continue the classical tradition in the 21st century. He enjoys working with his composer colleagues to bring new works into the world, including a commission of The Senses Tablecloth by Colin Holter and a premiere of Heath Mathews’ Resolution with pianist Stephen Self, has recorded new works for PARMA Recordings with the Enkidu String Quartet, and has been a guest performer with the 113 Composer’s Collective. As a founding member of Lux String Quartet, he performed six new works for quartet for composer Brian Ferneyhough, and guided young composers writing for the Schubert Club’s Young Composer Mentorship Program.


As a teacher, he maintains an active studio of young violinists and violists in the Twin Cities, equally at home inspiring beginners or sharing delight in the intricacies of the music to more advanced students. Nurturing his own roots as a Suzuki student, he has taken Suzuki teacher training in Chicago and Stevens Point with Doris Preucil, Nancy Jackson, Beth Titterington, and Joanne Melvin.

While not teaching, performing, practicing, studying scores, or planning the next concert, Sam enjoys learning from all the sights, sounds, and ideas planet Earth has to offer, because, like a Mahler symphony, a musical career must embrace the whole world.