Sam Pluta

Sam Pluta is a New York City-based composer, improviser, and sound artist. As a composer, he has been commissioned and premiered by Mantra Percussion, ICE, Mivos Quartet, Yarn/Wire, Timetable Percussion, RIOT Trio, Dave Eggar, and Prism Saxophone Quartet. He is Technical Director for Wet Ink Ensemble, a new music group dedicated to promoting music by young composers. Known internationally for his laptop performances with groups like Rocket Science, Wet Ink Ensemble, and The Peter Evans Quintet, he has performed as a laptop soloist and chamber musician at the Lucerne Festival, the Donaueschingen Festival, the Moers Festival, Bimhaus, Porgy and Bess, and the Vortex, amongst other international concert venues and festivals. He was recently ranked as the top electronics performer in the El Intruso international poll of jazz critics. A devoted pedagogue, he teaches electronic music, history, and theory at Manhattan School of Music, has taught at the Computer Music Center at Columbia University, and is Academic Dean and Director of Electronic Music at the Walden School, a summer music program for creative musicians. Sam's music is released on quiet design and Carrier Records, a record label he runs with Jeff Snyder and David Franzson, and his performances can also be found on More Is More, Tzadik, and hat[now]ART. Sam holds a Doctorate in Music Composition from Columbia University and additional degrees from UT Austin, the University of Birmingham (UK), and Santa Clara University. Sam has received recent fellowships and commissions from the MacDowell Colony and the Fromm Foundation.