Victoria Samek is a critically acclaimed international artist, a highly respected teacher and a thoughtful and caring mentor. Combining breath-taking technicality and musical integrity in her performances and recordings she is driven by her commitment to musical excellence. Victoria is also founder and director of international recording and publishing company Clarinet & Saxophone Classics, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2022.
The power of communication in performance, the discipline of practice and the love of music through her chosen instruments have all shaped her musical career. Alongside performing and recording, her teaching positions have included professor of clarinet and saxophone for the Royal Military School of Music (Camus), Guildhall School of Music (juniors) and Trinity Laban. She continues to lecture, mentor, and coach students of all levels. With a lifetime of experience and integrating science with creativity, she has spent the last nine years developing a process which she has called Organise, Prioritise, Commit; the training, testing and performing process (OPC). This beautifully illustrated handbook for musicians, due to be published in 2026, is set to revolutionize traditional approaches for the 21st century performer, whether performing on the concert platform, stage, audition, exam or interview.
Background
Born of Czech and Hungarian Jewish parents, she was a pupil at The Purcell School and studied clarinet with Roger Fallows before winning a Foundation Scholarship to the Royal College of Music studying clarinet with Colin Bradbury and bass clarinet and saxophone with Steve Trier. She later studied clarinet with Antony Pay. Prize winner of the prestigious Frederick Thurston Memorial Prize, she graduated with honours. With her insatiable curiosity in the relationship between science and creativity, Victoria returned to the Royal College of Music where she graduated with Masters in Performance Science.
Victoria is a D’Addario Performing Artist and an official endorsee for Selmer Paris.
