Sam Holmstock co-founded the highly acclaimed world fusion ensemble ENTRAIN, and toured and performed with the group for 20 years. He has also played with artists such as Bo Diddley, Gil Scott-Heron, Kate Taylor, James Taylor, Bob Weir, Babatunde Olatunji, and even President Bill Clinton at a White House Press Corps event.
Sam holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Composition from Berklee College of Music and a Certification from Remo Health Rhythms. He continued his formal studies at the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, NY, studying Composition and Improvisation under Karl Berger, Anthony Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell and Joseph Jarman. His World Percussion studies brought him under the tutelage of such notables as Robin Lobe, Jerry Gonzales, Roberto Borell, and Louis Romero, and culminated with Alejandro Guerra at the National School of Music in Havana, Cuba.
Through Drum Strategies for Healing, Sam brings therapeutic drumming to several neurodiverse communities including autistic adults and children, memory impaired individuals, at-risk teens in the juvenile justice system, veterans with PTSD, and people with traumatic brain injuries.
Sam brings a wealth of teaching and performing experience to the Cape Symphony faculty. In his teaching, he focuses on building the skills required to play with confidence, the vocabulary necessary to communicate with other musicians, and an understanding of the powerful therapeutic power of drumming.
