Meet 17-Year-Old Fall Concert Soloist Samuel Zacharia

Posted on October 24, 2016

Samuel Zacharia will perform Max Bruch‘s Romanze for Viola and Orchestra at PYP’s Fall Concert on Saturday, November 12, 2016 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

17-year-old Samuel Zacharia is co-principal viola of the Portland Youth Philharmonic (PYP) and a keen chamber musician who collaborates with peers and professionals alike in a number of ensembles, including Camerata PYP and a PYP quartet. This is Samuel’s sixth season in the Philharmonic Orchestra, and his third appearance as a soloist with the orchestra, having won the 2014 PYP Concerto Competition and the 2012 PYP Soloist Competition.

Invited to join the Perlman Music Program (PMP) at age 13, Samuel spends his summer and winter breaks with his PMP family of about 35 musicians, rehearsing orchestra and sight-reading chamber music with Itzhak Perlman, receiving chamber coaching from Merry Peckham, singing in choir under the direction of Patrick Romano, and studying viola repertoire with Carol Rodland and Kirsten Docter. In Portland, Samuel is blessed to study with Brian Quincey, having formerly studied with Cynthia Scott at the Community Music Center.

Winner of the 2016 American Viola Society Soloist Competition and the 2016 MetroArts Young Artists Debut! Competition, Samuel has been honored with multiple awards, including PYP’s Jaques Gershkovitch Award and a merit scholarship to study with Yizhak Schotten at the 2011 Montecito International Music Festival..

Passionate about using music to connect with others, Samuel performs in outreach concerts and events throughout the Portland metropolitan area. He spent four years as viola coach to PYP’s own Young String Ensemble in addition to spending a year playing alongside Conservatory Orchestra musicians.

Samuel is a home educated senior. He has been named a 2016 AP Scholar with Distinction and was selected as a 2016-2017 Reed College Young Scholar.