Pianist. Composer. 6th Grader.

Listen to 12-year-old Sami Gershenhorn of New Music School play on Saturday, April 17th from 1pm-4pm in the Atrium of 900 North Michigan Shops.

SAMI’S STORY

As a child, music reached Sami on a deeply emotional level. Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (which he calls his superpower), Sami’s ability to hyper-focus translated to him creating classical children’s pieces on piano.

Sami was recently awarded the Judges Distinction Award for the 2021 NMS Concerto Competition with Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin, and received Honorable mention for his performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 at DePaul University’s Concerto Festival.

He has been invited to play by Augusta Read Thomas. In 2020, Sami performed the first movement of Prokofiev’s 1st Piano Concerto with the Chicago Arts Orchestra, made his radio debut on WFMT 98.7 as a soloist and was featured as an American Composer. Sami was invited to perform in masterclasses with Paul Lewis and Steven Osborne.

Follow along to Sami’s journey: https://www.instagram.com/samigershenhorn/