Artist Spotlight: Samuel Durand
PIANIST | COMPOSER
Born and raised in Central Arkansas, Samuel studied piano from a young age at the Searcy Community School of Music under Dr. Scott Carrell. During high school, he served as the principal pianist for the Arkansas Symphony Youth Orchestra, and twice won the Sam O’ Driggers Piano Festival at the University of Central Arkansas. In 2020, Samuel began attending the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, MA, during which he and other pianists and singers collaborated to record selections of C.P.E. Bach’s work for the Packard Humanities Institute. He studied piano performance with Grammy-nominated pianist Andrius Žlabys and graduated in 2023.
Samuel’s first piece to be publicly premiered was “El Morro Castle” – which was performed in 2017 by the ASU Beebe symphonic band. In collaboration with flutist Anna McLeran, he performed his piece for flute and piano titled “Through Night Trees” for the Music Teachers Association of Central Arkansas and the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Guild in 2019. His piece for solo piano – “Reminiscence” – was premiered at Harding University in 2020, and went on to become a national finalist in the 2020 MTNA composition competition. During his studies at Longy he completed multiple works, including his first piano quintet titled “Death…Redemption…Life,” which was a national finalist for the 2023 American Prize. He also completed commissions for chamber works from ensembles nexbloom and the Gaia Quartet.
After graduating from Longy, Samuel moved to Los Angeles, where he is currently studying Film Scoring at UCLA Extension. His scoring credits include “Senseless” (2024) which was nominated for “Best Original Score” at the 2025 Christian Worldview Film Festival, and “The Key” (2025) which won the “Best Original Music (Highschool Division)” award at the 2025 Christian Youth Film Festival.
Outside of his musical life, Samuel serves at his local church, on the Stoa Alumni Committee as the Senior Staff Writer for the Alumni Post, and on the Stoa Prayer Team. He enjoys working on his ’96 Ford Ranger, spending time with his friends, reading, and listening to podcasts and music.
I wrote this piece to challenge my own heart. At the time, I knew that abortion was wrong and that it was evil, but I hadn’t really allowed the horrible reality of what was happening to sink into my own soul. I knew that once I did, action would be required. My heart would necessarily need to change from casually remembering, “Yes, it’s bad this is happening,” to feeling incredibly deeply for all of these little children. As I began to write, I further realized that this piece was not intended to reflect my own heart, but rather the heart of God. His love for these little ones is so powerful, so deep, and so kind, that it can’t be fully captured in words, or in music, or in any other way. But we can attempt to reflect it and share just a little bit of the love He has for these little ones with those around us. My hope and prayer is that every listener of this piece would receive a glimpse into the heart of God, and that it would challenge, stir, and awaken their own heart in love for the unborn.
Elegy for the Unborn
Performed by Samuel Smith, cellist, and Samuel Durand, pianist, at Harding University’s Reynolds Recital Hall on May 12th, 2024. Photo Credit – DanMihai on Pinterest
If you are interested in performing this work, please feel free to contact Samuel via his contact form to request a copy of the score.
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