Saying that Sam Lipman is a musician is like saying Martin Scorsese is a film-maker. Recently appointed as the full-time Composer-In-Residence, Head Accompanist, and Lecturer in Musical Aesthetics for the Theater and Dance Department at the University of Texas at Austin, Lipman boasts a prolific portfolio, critically acclaimed for its wide variety and poignant beauty.
After a decade of learning the ropes in the sink-or-swim music scene of New York City, Sam relocated to Austin, TX to pursue his wares in popular music, child-rearing, while earning his Masters in Composition with distinction at UT’s Butler School of Music. In that time, he has composed music for several films, most recently the multi-award-winning documentary Southwest of Salem, which premiered at TriBeCa film festival and earned him a short-list for an Oscar for Best Original Song in a Movie, as well as orchestral works. He also penned such works as Song of the Bhagavan, performed in concert in 2017 by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra at Princeton University, under the direction of JoAnn Falletta.
He has recorded, performed and toured with Justin Timberlake, Kurt Rosenwinkel and Okkervil River. Samuel’s work attempts to commingle the rich complexity of the academic world with simpler, strident styles of entertainment.