Samuel Nordlund is instructor of cello and string chamber music coordinator at Samford University in Birmingham, AL, where he is also cellist in the Samford Quartet.  He frequently performs with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and String Theory Birmingham, and has been a member of the Huntsville Symphony (AL), Kalamazoo Symphony (MI), and Illinois Philharmonic, among others.  Samuel is Immediate Past-President of the Alabama Orchestra Association, and teaches cello and orchestra at STEP Birmingham, the Alabama School of Fine Arts, and the Samford Academy of the Arts.  He earned his Doctorate of Musical Arts from The University of Alabama, and the Master of Music from Northwestern University.  Samuel and his violinist wife, Caroline, started the Encore Strings Summer Academy in 2018.  They have two gregarious children – Annelise, 9, and Henry, 3.

Prior to moving to Alabama, Samuel was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and a substitute player with the Chicago and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestras.  He also served as Assistant Director of Performance Activities at the Music Institute of Chicago.  For several summers, he taught cello and directed the Early Music Ensemble at the Lutheran Summer Music festival.  He is a previous Music Director of the Metropolitan Youth Orchestras of Central Alabama, and currently serves on their Board of Directors.