Sam Panner (1998) is from Bethesda, Maryland, USA. He began studying violin at the age of 3, eventually entering the violin studio of Ronda Cole, with whom he studied until he graduated high school. He spent the summers of 2015 and 2016, after his sophomore and junior years of high school, at Meadowmount School of Music, where he explored string quartet playing for the first time.

Sam attended Yale University, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics. He was an active member of the Yale Symphony Orchestra and took classes in chamber music and music theory. He also played the drums and served as president of the Yale Undergraduate Jazz Collective. At Yale, Sam studied violin with Kyung Yu.

Sam earned his Master’s degree in violin in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where he was a member of the violin class of Peter Brunt. He graduated in 2024 with a final exam grade of 10. 

Sam has been a fellow of the Verbier Festival Orchestra (2023) and a member of the Amsterdam Sinfonietta Academy (2023). He was an academist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in the 2024/2025 season. He has also substituted with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra. Sam has participated in masterclasses with Alex Kerr, Klaus Mäkelä, David Takeno, and Hilary Hahn, among others.