Biography
Sam is one of the first musicians in the world to have a Conservatoire-level Master’s course specially created for him: a “Piano Masters in Interpretation and Improvisation” at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, which brings together his skills in jazz, composition, and classical music. Graduating with Distinction in 2019, he spent the following year as a Fellow with the Composition Department. He mainly studied the classical piano tradition and, only recently in his career, discovered his true passion: improvisation.
During lockdown, Sam composed a musical, One Shoe of Each Colour, which tells the story of his journey as a transgender person. Championed by GSMD as a musical with “all the ingredients to be the next hit,” the piece is garnering significant interest from the world of musical theatre and is due to be released in 2025. He also wrote the music for the new play Consecuencias de la Sed, which premiered in 2021, and was awarded the Oh! Prize for Best New Soundtrack.
Sam is the resident pianist for DEBUT at Shoreditch Treehouse in London (ranked the No. 1 Airbnb Music Experience globally in 2018 by Forbes), where he was featured by Steinway & Sons. He was also part of Yamaha’s “Live From Home” Europe-wide live stream series and frequently participates in events at the Royal Opera House.
Reviews
“Sam is an outstanding musician with a unique artistic voice. His style of playing cannot be easily defined by genre and nor should it be. He occupies a space where classical meets folk, pop and film music and it is through his extraordinary talent as an improviser that he is able to embrace and freely express all of these styles open-heartedly. A rare young talent.”
Jonathan Vaughan – Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Director of Music
Laura Roberts – Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Professor of Piano
“Sam has an undeniable talent for improvisation. That, coupled with his technical prowess and musical knowledge make him an exciting prospect. Watch this space!”
Gareth Williams – Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Professor of Jazz Improvisation
ONE SHOE OF EACH COLOUR
THE MUSICAL
One Shoe of Each Colour is an autobiographical musical by Sam Peña telling the story of Bet (authors real nickname), someone going through a complex process of growth and emotional breakthroughs to find out who they really are. Bet starts the play under a female identity and is always accompanied by *her* 2 consciences, the non human characters that only Bet can see or hear who represent the two sides of the emotional journey, fear, social opinion pulling Bet back and freedom and bravery representing the 27yo looking back on the younger self.
THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS, MORE EXCITING NEWS COMING SOON!
Please get in touch using the below contact form if you would like to be involved as a musical theatre professional in the production of One Shoe of Each Colour The Musical
