Sam Kane
Sam Kane is a Northern Irish violinist and composer from County Armagh, based in Manchester. Having grown up on a farm, much of his music is inspired by the landscapes of home, as well as Irish traditional music and folklore. Sam graduated with distinction from the RNCM in 2024, where he studied violin with Jim Clark and Cecily Ward.
As a violinist, Sam has performed as a soloist with the Ulster Orchestra and at festivals across the UK and Ireland. He has freelanced with ensembles including the Ulster Orchestra, Northern Ireland Opera, the Hallé and Camerata Ireland. During his time at the RNCM, he received the Irish Heritage Homan Potterton Bursary for Strings, the RNCM Norman George Violin Prize and was a finalist in both the RNCM Concerto and Gold Medal Competitions. More recently, Sam was awarded the BBC Northern Ireland Young Musicians’ Platform Award.
As a composer, Sam won the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic’s Rushworth Composition Prize in 2023 and was commissioned to write for Ensemble 10:10. His music has since been performed by the Ulster Orchestra, Ulster Youth Orchestra, NOMAD and Hard Rain Soloist Ensemble, and atBuxton International Festival, Boyne Music Festival and Mourne Chamber Music Festival. His music has also been broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster and Classic FM.
Recent highlights include collaborations with NOMAD and Ben Nobuto, composition lessons with Caroline Shaw at the Stauffer Centre for Strings in Cremona, and the premiere of his latest orchestral work Journey to the Otherworld at Konzerthaus Berlin. For the past two years, Sam has loved working on Buxton International Festival’s community and engagement projects, turning children’s musical ideas into pieces for them to perform alongside an orchestra.
Sam is the founder and Artistic Director of Furness Festival Strings, a chamber ensemble based in Barrow-in-Furness. He is also a member of the Agogo Quartet, one of the RNCM’s Studio Quartets for 2026/27. Outside of music, Sam enjoys skateboarding and making homemade slushies.
Sam plays a Vincenzo Panormo violin (c. 1800–10), generously on loan from the Harrison-Frank Family Foundation.
Something I’m looking forward to:
I’m really looking forward to getting involved with Music in Mind, exploring improvisation and experiencing how music can be used to connect with people in this way. I’m also really excited to learn from Camerata’s musicians and the wider team, gaining new ideas and advice that I can take into my work as a player and composer, as well as developing my own projects with Furness Festival Strings.
Music recommendation:
I’ve been listening to a lot of Giovanni Sollima’s music at the moment, after hearing Sonnets et Rondeaux live for the first time at Boyne Music Festival this summer. I’ve since had his 4 Strings album on repeat. It’s got some great grooves, some really wild and folky moments, but also some beautiful moments of reflection. The whole album is so much fun, but if I had to choose one track, I’d definitely recommend the fourth movement of Sonnets et Rondeaux.
