Sam Brose
Sam Brose found his love of music at age two with a toy keyboard, a ukulele, bongos, and a plastic trumpet. He was ten years old when he began studying piano at Levine, and he took to it like wildfire. “Sam is an incredibly motivated and driven student,” says his teacher, Jamila Tekalli Hanner. “His enthusiasm and passion for music are just genuine to who he is. He’s a very curious person and just trusts the process and really absorbs it all.”
Watching Sam perform, it’s clear to see he’s enjoying himself. This passion and enthusiasm fuels him to seek music everywhere and take advantage of educational opportunities as often as possible. Sam has been recognized on the Piano Department’s Distinction List every year since 2021. He joined Levine’s Honors Program in 2022, has taken part in Master Classes with Émile Naoumoff and Chaeyoung Park, and frequently attends concerts to see professionals perform whenever possible in Washington, DC and beyond. In both the summer of 2023 and the summer of 2024, Sam took part in the Philadelphia International Music Festival.
As a soloist, Sam won first place in the 2024 Cogen Concerto Competition. As part of this prize, he was a featured soloist with the Levine Chamber Orchestra at the Spring Showcase Concert, performing the first movement of Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor.
Sam also loves performing as part of chamber music ensembles. Since 2022, he has played duo piano with fellow Levine Honors Student Uma Das. They have performed pieces by Ravel and Rachmaninoff, as well as Sam’s original arrangement of “America” from West Side Story. In the 2024 Misbin Family Memorial Chamber Music Competition, Sam and Uma won the Misbin Award. Sam has also played piano in various American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras (AYPO) since 2021 and has been selected to perform in the AYPO’s Senior Chamber Ensemble. For the 2024-25 season, Sam is playing piano in the American Youth Philharmonic, the program’s most advanced orchestra.
Beyond piano, Sam retains his original love of other instruments. He has played violin since 2020, and he plays cello (in addition to piano) in Yorktown High School’s Chamber Orchestra. Sam has completed the Level 10 Exam in music theory at Levine and is now studying arranging. He looks forward to expanding his studies to composition and conducting. Although college is still several years away, Sam knows that music will continue to be a central part of his education and life after Levine.
“Music is so much more than an interest for me; it’s my obsession. I don’t know where my journey with music will take me, but I want to go as far with it as I possibly can. Music isn’t just something I do, it’s at the core of who I am.”
— Sam Brose
Levine’s community portraits are a rotating showcase of students, alumni, and faculty members displayed at our Northwest DC campus. The individuals photographed are just a small sample of the many extraordinary people who make up the Levine Music community. From teachers with storied careers to students looking toward the future, their journeys are ones of determination, passion, and collaboration.