Biography

Samantha Atkinson is a young musician from Nottingham,
which is where she started her passion for all things creative.
She had saxophone lessons from Alistair Parnell fromage 10-18,
and worked with the Nottingham Music Hubs Robin Hood Youth Orchestra. She achieved her ABRSM Performance diploma on alto saxophone and her grade 8 clarinet, before getting into the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, attaining a first class honours degree in Classical Music Performance . 

Samantha is principally a Classical saxophonist, with an enthusiasm for folk, film and neo-romantic music. She has played soprano with: Junction saxophone quartet, Viertakte Saxophone quartet and the Azå saxophone Quartet who won the Andrew Downes Prize 2023, and the Sylvia Cleaver Prize 2023.Samantha and Ben Baldwin have a saxophone duo, playing exciting classical, jazz and modern music together. The pair aim to bring good quality music to a new audience ensuring it is engaging and accessable.  As a multidisciplinary musician she has had experience on all 4 of the main saxophones: soprano, alto, tenor and baritone, but also enjoys her work as a singer-songwriter, classical composer and her collection of other instruments including clarinet, recorder and hang drum. This diversity in musical avenues means her opportunitys are extremely varied meaning she can reach a wide range of different audiences.

The wider community is very important to Samantha, who is striving use her gift of music help people from all walks of life and differing backgrounds to access music, starting with her volunteering work with Melody helping participants with additional needs and disabilities to play music, and work with Turtle Key Arts on their Turtle Opera. She is also planning future projects targeted towards engaging younger and under-reprisented audiences who usually wouldnt have the chance to experience the arts.