UT Martin Vocal Music Education major Samuel Green has been selected to perform next year at the Lincoln Center in New York City.
Green, a junior from Munford, Tennessee, was chosen by Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) to perform April 14, 2025, in a selected choir with choral composer Eric Whitacre. DCINY is an organization devoted to creating performance opportunities for musicians to perform with notable composers.
Before he submitted his triumphant audition, Green’s choral journey started as a sophomore in high school with the assistance of his choir director.
“I tried out for the higher level choir there and was able to get a position in that. I was bass two my first time, which is kind of where it started,” Green explained.
Originally, Green was in band for five years but realized singing was the area he was most comfortable with. When he arrived at UT Martin, he began taking voice lessons under Dr. Robert Mancusi, professor of Music. Furthermore, his inspiration for chorus stems from wanting to be able to educate students on music as a career.
“Education is where I felt called to be and I’ve really stuck with it. It’s been something that I’ve had and it’s so much fun. Because for me, I don’t really want to display the talents that I have. I want to be able to pass those down to other students,” Green said.
When he found out he was selected to perform in New York, Green was ecstatic about the news, which overshadowed an unexpected situation. “We had just finished up Death by Voice, which is a singing competition that the Music Department puts on. We were looking through all my comments and, unfortunately, I ended up coming dead last in everything. I wanted to get the experience out of it, and so I was happy. Then, at the end of all of that, I got the notification for the audition results,” he said. Green originally auditioned for the November slot in New York, but it was full, so he was able to get transferred to the April slot, which, he said, worked out perfectly.
During the virtual audition process, Green submitted a video of himself singing a piece that he was quite familiar with. It is titled “I Carry Your Heart With Me” and is composed by Eric Whitacre, the composer Green will work with in New York. “I just auditioned with it and said, ‘You know what, let’s just give it a shot.’ And that was it; I sent in the recording. Eric Whitacre, though, is someone who I admire, his music and composition style, per se,” he said.
In addition to this, the process was something Green hasn’t experienced before. He described it as feeling very isolating since one hears everything, but everyone else hears nothing. However, the outcome ended up very rewarding.
“I get to perform under one of the most revered music composers ever in modern-day music. Just being able to say that I did that is truly incredible. It’s something just so awe-inspiring that I kind of think back to whenever I was originally doing choir back in high school and I was just like, ‘This is fun, but I don’t ever see myself really going with it,'” he explained.
Green hopes that both he and the choir he will perform with will convey to the audience the timbres Whitacre originally composed for his music. “That’s kind of the whole point, which is not about getting it perfect once, but it’s about the overall consistency of what each choir brings,” he says.
For students wanting to pursue a career in music, Green advises them to get involved with music programs, such as a small choir in a community or church or anything musically related, and also consider taking lessons. He added that this will encourage creativity and help them branch out into their own ways.
Green will continue his own creative journey when he reaches for the stars in New York next year.
