Biographical Note
Sam Yeung leads a diverse life as a violist and entrepreneur.
He completed his undergraduate studies in violin performance at the University of Toronto under David Zafer. Due to a shortage of violists, Sam studied violin and viola simultaneously from his third year onward. The switch to viola became permanent when Sam left Toronto to pursue his graduate studies in viola performance at Manhattan School of Music on scholarship.
During his time in New York City, Sam studied with Leonard Davis, the former principal violist of the New York Philharmonic. Sam’s time in New York enriched his musical life greatly as he worked with artists such as Pinchas Zukerman, David Geber, and Karen Dreyfus. In addition to his studies with Davis, Sam pursued supplementary studies with world renowned viola soloist, Emanuel Vardi. Vardi invited Sam to become his Teaching Assistant at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. After Vardi tore his rotator cuff in an accident, Sam assumed Vardi’s teaching responsibilities while completing his Master Degree on full scholarship.
Sam returned to Toronto and founded his first business, Candle with Care. Candle with Care, later evolved into Floret, a wedding decoration business that Sam has operated for the past 20 years. In addition to owning his own business, Sam is an invested pedagogue who passionately believes that the language of music is universal. In his teaching, he strives to instill in his students the value of holistic independent thinking in interpreting music.