Samuel Peruzzolo-Vieira

The percussionist and composer Samuel Peruzzolo-Vieira earned his Bachelor’s degree in Percussion from the Federal University of Santa Maria (Brazil) in 2005 and completed a Master’s degree in Percussion Performance at Texas A&M University–Commerce in 2010. Previously, Samuel held the position of principal timpanist with the PUC/RS Philharmonic Orchestra for approximately four years, while also working as a freelance chamber musician in Brazil. He recently completed his PhD at the University of Aveiro (Portugal), with a research project focused on the connections between composition and performance, specifically exploring alternative notation and musical hermeneutics.

Alongside his percussion training, he studied composition with Martin Lichtfuss (Austria), Jack Fortner (USA), Dimitri Cervo (Brazil), Amaro Borges (Brazil), and Ted Hansen (USA). His compositions have been performed in Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Croatia, the USA, France, England, Italy, Norway, and Portugal, and several of his works have been recorded on five CDs in Brazil and the USA.

Peruzzolo-Vieira is a member of INET-md (Portugal) – Institute of Ethnomusicology – Centre for Studies in Music and Dance – and has collaborated with various research and academic production groups such as POST-IP, Performa, Research “Hands on,” and IMPAR. He is currently a percussion instructor at JOBRA and in the professional course at ESEC-Cinfães.

In 2010, he was one of the winners of the Funarte Prize for Classical Composition, one of the most prestigious composition awards in Brazil, and in 2011 he received first prize in the Percussive Arts Society Composition Contest (USA).