Sam began studying classical piano at age 7, and took up jazz not long after that. He has been playing both ever since, with each tradition influencing the other in his music. Yulsman, a junior at Columbia University, has played with many jazz veterans including Roy Hargrove, Steve Wilson, John Gunther, Paul Romaine, Greg Gisbert, Art Lande, and Charmaine Neville (at Snug Harbor, New Orleans’ premiere jazz club). He also has played in Chie Imaizumi’s Jazz Orchestra and with the Longmont Symphony Orchestra. Yulsman has played at the Mile High, Aspen-Snowmass, Telluride and Vail festivals, as well as the 2008 IAJE and Denver’s premiere jazz club Dazzle. As a pianist and composer he has studied with Art Lande, Bill Cunliffe, Donald Brown, Evan Harlan, Eric Gunnison, and Doris Lehnert. As a teacher, Yulsman has taught young kids with the Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts as well as through Jazz Aspen-Snowmass’s program for high school aged musicians. Sam is himself an alumni of the Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts and has been recognized with awards and honors including acceptance into the prestigious Vail Jazz Camp and a first place recognition at SPA 2008 for his performance of Ligeti’s Etude “Le’Esclaire de Diable.” In 2011, he was a winner of Downbeat Magazines original composition – lead sheet award for his composition “Song for Robert Rauschenberg”. He was also accepted into the New England Conservatory’s Jazz, Classical and Contemporary Improvisation Programs. However, he chose instead to attend University of Miami after being accepted into their Stamps Scholarship (a full scholarship program). After studying with Shelly Berg and JB Floyd, as well as performing with Gary Burton in the 2009 Miami Jazz Festival, he chose to transfer to Columbia University. He currently studies with Anthony de Mare and Ben Waltzer, and is completing a degree in ethnomusicology/ anthropology.