Sam Barber

Sam Barber, born 1996 in Huddersfield, is a British organist, pianist and trombonist. His busy calendar features a wide range of performances around the UK and internationally, from some of the world's greatest concert halls to the pitch at Lord’s Cricket Ground, with many more in between. His work has appeared numerous times live on BBC Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’, as well as on BBC Radio 2, Radio 4, Classic FM, BBC Songs of Praise and Channel 4 Television. Recent gigs have included playing alongside Queen at the O2 Arena, playing at ITV’s Pride of Britain Awards, and in the orchestra for ‘The Coronation Prom’; a sold out concert at the Royal Albert Hall on the coronation date of King Charles III. Sam regularly plays with many of the Groove Nation Entertainment bands, the DDFK Oompah Band, and his function band ‘Ska House’. As a keyboard player, he has regularly played for recitals and exams at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, as well as the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music and Trinity Laban. He is the Organist and Director of Music at Christ Church Kensington, where he conducts the Professional Choir and curates the Church’s Concert series; a position he holds alongside regular deputy work at Chelmsford and Brentwood Cathedrals. Sam is also the School Organist and Accompanist at Brentwood School, where he accompanies over 70 concerts a year, coaches musicians on the Specialist Music Programme, and coordinates the musical offering at daily chapel services. Sam joined the school during his final year at Guildhall, and since then the Music Department has entered into partnerships with Junior Guildhall and Steinway and Sons, which alongside the fully-funded Endangered Instrument Programme and Music Scholarship Scheme has enabled the School to be a major proponent of a first class musical education in the South East. Sam has a keen passion for early music, particularly with Sackbut and Continuo playing. He was one of 3 finalists in the British Trombone Society International Sackbut Competition 2022 and has since gone on to perform with the English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble. He is a founder member of the early music group ‘Sacred Bones’, who won the inaugural Brian Nisbet Early Music Competition at their first public performance and have since appeared at the London International Festival of Early Music and the Barbican Centre’s ‘Sound Unbound’ festival. In 2014-18, Sam won the Henry Wood Scholarship at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he studied the trombone with Eric Crees, Simon Wills, John Kenny, and sackbut with Emily White.