About

Originally from Miami, Florida, Sam Valancy is a graduate student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City where he is pursuing a Masters in Music Theory and an Artist Certificate in Saxophone Performance. Valancy currently serves as the Graduate Teaching Assistant forthe Music Theory Department at UMKC where he teaches Music Theory Fundamentals and Aural Skills.

Valancy has won several accolades as a soloist and as a chamber musician, including an Outstanding Soloist Award at the 20th Annual Jazz at Lincoln Center Essentially Ellington Competition presented by Wynton Marsalis in 2015, a Downbeat Magazine Award for his performance with the Frost Salsa Orchestra in 2018, and First Prize in the Frost School of Music Concerto Competition in 2018. Valancy was a finalist in the 2017 Ocala Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition Senior Division, Semi Finalist in the North American Saxophone Alliance Quartet Competition in 2020, and Quarter Finalist in the 49th Annual Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in 2022.

Valancy has performed at a variety of events and venues. Notable performances include a featured solo presentation at the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management Kellogg Innovation Network (KIN) Global Summit at the New World Center in Miami, Florida in 2016, solo performance at the 2018 Frost Winter Heat New Music Festival, the world premier of James Stephenson’s Symphony No. 3 with the Frost Symphony Orchestra in 2019, and performances with the Northwestern University Contemporary Music Ensemble and Graduate Saxophone Quartet at the Northwestern University New Music Conference (NUNC) in 2021. Valancy has performed as a soloist with the Frost Wind Ensemble and the Kansas City Wind Symphony. Notable venues Valancy has performed at include the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, New York, the New World Center in Miami, Florida, and the Kauffman Center in Kansas City, Missouri. In the summer of 2022, Valancy studied at the Arosa Music Academy in Arosa, Switzerland, where he worked with saxophonists Christian Wirth, Lars Mlekusch, and Timothy McAllister.

Valancy holds a Master of Music in Saxophone Performance from Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Music in Saxophone Performance with a Minor in Studio Music and Jazz from the University of Miami. His primary teachers include Zach Shemon, Taimur Sullivan, Dale Underwood, and Gary Keller.