Maria Sampen, violin, enjoys a vibrant musical career as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and teacher. Equally at home with repertoire ranging from classical to avant-garde to popular styles, Dr. Sampen delights audiences with her eclectic programs, her passionate performance style and her highly expressive playing. She performs in Europe, Asia, Canada and all over the United States. 

 

As a soloist and chamber musician, Dr. Sampen has performed in prominent venues including Carnegie Hall Weill Recital Hall, Symphony Space (NY), Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center, Town Hall Seattle, the Chicago Cultural Center, and the Detroit Institute of Art. She is a frequent guest recitalist and masterclass clinician at universities and conservatories throughout the world. Highlights in the U.S. include performances and residencies at the University of Michigan, Cornell University, the Eastman School of Music, the Boston Conservatory, the Chicago School of Performing Arts, the University of Oregon, the University of Minnesota, Bowling Green State University, Vanderbilt, and the University of Washington. She has also appeared as a guest soloist and master class clinician at the Sichuan Conservatory in Chengdu, China; the University of British Columbia, Vancouver; the Akademie of Art in Szczecin, Poland; the Trento Conservatory of Music, Italy; and has given performances in the Canary Islands (Spain), Scotland, Austria, and Singapore. 

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Dr. Sampen is a passionate supporter of contemporary music, and has commissioned and given the world premieres of over 50 new works. This includes three concertos for violin and orchestra (composers David Glenn, Marilyn Shrude and Robert Hutchinson) and an impressive body of chamber works, including collaborations with composers such as William Bolcom, William Albright, Bright Sheng, Marcos Balter, Andrew Mead, Robert Morris, Jennifer Higdon, Korine Fujiwara, Kenji Bunch, Nico Muhly and Forrest Pierce. Dr. Sampen was a member of the new music group, Brave New Works from 2000-2020 and was violinist/violist of the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble. 

 

Dr. Sampen has been featured as a soloist on KING FM in Seattle and other public radio stations throughout the country. She has released recordings on AMP Records, Block M Records, Perspectives in New Music/Open Space and Origin Records. 

 

In addition to new music, Dr. Sampen can also be found on stage performing the standard repertoire. Her solo appearances with orchestra include concerti by Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Bruch, Prokofiev, Vivaldi, Beethoven, Bolcom, Piazzolla and Mozart. 

 

Dr. Sampen is the violinist of the Puget Sound Piano Trio. In addition to their regular concert season in the Pacific Northwest, the trio’s recent engagements include concert tours in Alaska, New Jersey, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania and performances of the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Northwest Sinfonietta Orchestra under the direction of conductor, Mei-Ann Chen. 

 

Dr. Sampen is Professor of Violin and Chair of the String Department at the University of Puget Sound where she teaches a talented studio of violinists, coaches chamber music, and teaches String Pedagogy and Aural Skills. She has twice received the University of Puget Sound’s Thomas A. Davis Teaching Award for excellence in teaching. Her students are frequent winners of local concerto competitions and the Washington State Solo and Ensemble Competition and have also won top awards from the Music Teacher National Association Competition, the Black Violin Foundation, and the American String Teacher Washington State Competition. Dr. Sampen has taught on the faculties of the Brevard Music Festival in North Carolina, the Interlochen Center for the Arts, the Icicle Creek Chamber Music Institute in Washington and the Hilton Head Chamber Music Festival in South Carolina. 

 

In 2019, the University of Puget Sound awarded Dr. Sampen the Kristine Bartanen Research Award for remarkable accomplishments in research and professional development. She is also a Sigma Alpha Iota Distinguished National Arts Associate. 

 

Dr. Sampen loves working with her brilliant and talented students at the University of Puget Sound. The 2025-26 university violin studio includes 21 violinists hailing from Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, California, Colorado, Montana and New Mexico. Additionally, she teaches a studio of 10 pre-college and adult students who travel to Tacoma for weekly lessons from all over the greater Tacoma-Seattle area. She believes that every student is capable of growth and positive change. She has been delighted to make her career at a place that also holds these values. She is committed to helping her students reach their maximum potential, not only as artists but as citizens of this world.

 

A native of Bowling Green, Ohio, Dr. Sampen grew up in a musical family. She played piano from a young age, and also loved singing and acting on stage. She started violin at age 9 as a member of her 4th grade public school orchestra. She credits her early teachers with instilling in her a love of music and the arts: her parents, composer, Marilyn Shrude and saxophonist, John Sampen; her piano teacher, Ann Pope; and her first orchestra teacher, Victor Ellsworth. Dr. Sampen graduated with highest honors from the University of Michigan (Bachelor of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts) and Rice University (Masters of Music). Her violin teachers include Paul Kantor, Kenneth Goldsmith, Paul Makara and Andrew Jennings. She also performed and studied at the Mozarteum Sommerakademie, the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Musicorda Festival, the Carnegie Hall Professional Training Workshop, and as a fellow at both the Aspen and Tanglewood Music Festivals.