Samuel Milner

Bio

Samuel Milner has been performing for as long as he can remember. He has appeared as soloist with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, the Regina Symphony Orchestra, Prairie Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, and McGill’s Beethoven Orchestra, and he enjoys performing chamber music across Canada regularly. He plays bars, backyards, bookstores, and more with his indie-folk project davis & james. And he once starred as Jesus Christ in a community production of the 1970s Stephen Schwartz hit musical Godspell. Samuel’s primary musical mentors growing up were violinist Phillip Kashap, violist Michael van der Sloot, pianist Bonnie Nicholson, and his parents’ collection of classical CD-ROMS. As a teenager Milner was the winner of the Canadian Music Competition National Finals (twice), the Saskatchewan Music Festival Provincial Finals, and the Saskatchewan Concerto Competition. After high school he continued his studies at McGill University, where he received the Lloyd-Carr Harris Scholarship for Strings and studied with Jonathan Crow. Samuel holds degrees in both Mathematics and Education: in a previous career he taught high school math in Vancouver public schools and researched Arts-based Embodied Mathematics Education as part of a UBC team led by Professor Susan Gerofsky. Sam remains interested in education, teaching violin—and occasionally helping students study for their upcoming math tests—at St. James Music Academy in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Born and raised in Saskatoon, Samuel identifies with the beautiful, brutal music of the boreal forest and the vast northern plains: Sibelius, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Pärt; nonetheless he is glad to perform other composers as well, and to make his home in the far less brutal but still very beautiful Vancouver, where regardless of season he may be found jumping into the ocean, riding a bike, running the trails, baking banana bread, or reading a novel.

Samuel joined the VSO as Principal Second Violin in 2024.