Guitar
Composer, classical guitarist, pianist, and amateur violist Samuel Moss is a native of Chesterfield, VA. He holds an MA in Theology from the Catholic University of America ('23) and a BA in Music from Clarke University in Dubuque, IA ('20). Moss's BA was focused on composition, with a primary performance area in classical guitar. His collegiate years were marked by diverse musical experiences, from singing in Clarke's SATB choir, The Collegiate Singers, to being a chamber violist in the Clarke-Loras String Orchestra, and performing as a classical guitarist and pianist, even debuting his own works.
Moss's journey as a musician is one of humble beginnings, and his background as a musician is that of an amateur in the truest sense since he did not grow up playing instruments. Moss only picked up the guitar at age 17, a few months before committing to Clarke and their music program. It was only when Moss got into college that he took his first guitar lesson from Miles McConnell and later studied guitar under Marcus Dejesus in his junior and senior years. There, in the space of 4 years, Moss went from barely being able to read music to performing his Senior recital on guitar and piano.
Moss's approach to teaching is informed by his nearly ten years of experience as a chess coach working primarily with K-9 students and his own experience as a student who has taken music lessons. Moss's objective when taking lessons was to learn from his instructors how to practice, in other words, how to best spend his time between lessons. His overall aim for his students is to equip them with the requisite conceptual knowledge and empower them to improve their abilities to achieve their musical goals through practice and performance.