Samuel Stokes Bio

Samuel Stokes is originally from Sedalia, Missouri, where he graduated from Smith-Cotton High School in 1998. He has a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Composition/Arranging and a Master of Arts in Music Composition from the University of Central Missouri, as well as a Master of Music Theory from The Florida State University, and a PhD in Music Composition from Louisiana State University. Dr. Stokes currently teaches in the talented music program for the Natchitoches Parish Schools, and he is also the music composition and arranging instructor at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

While at the University of Central Missouri, Stokes was involved in the Marching Band, Concert Band, Jazz Band, Symphony Orchestra, Percussion Ensemble, and Winter Drumline, playing piano, percussion, and cello. Stokes composed an original work entitled “Solus,” which was performed by the Marching band as part of the fall 2000 field show, and arranged most of the drumline and front ensemble parts during the 1999, 2000, and 2001 seasons. He arranged a Dracula-themed gym show for the Winter Drumline, entitled “What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse,” which was used in both performance and competition in the spring of 2001. Stokes also composed a multi-movement work based on the Mika Waltari novel, “The Egyptian,” which was performed by the UCM percussion ensemble. He also composed two original pieces for the University Jazz Ensemble and nine arrangements performed at various concerts in 2001-2003.

Stokes was very heavily involved in the UCM theatre department, serving as a musical director, composer, or arranger for approximately 20 shows. While at FSU, Stokes was the music director for Marat/Sade and Amadeus.

Stokes composed two full-length musicals that were produced. The first entitled Bird Millman, a collaborative effort with playwright August Mergelman, was performed by the Freemont Civic Theatre in Canon City, Colorado in Spring of 2002. The second entitled Dracula, a collaboration with playwright Richard Herman, was produced by the Central Missouri Repertory Company in the Summer of 2003.  Stokes also composed a one-act musical Ebenezer, which was premiered by The Music Studio of Warrensburg in 2018.

Stokes’s musical for young audiences The Humpty Dumpty Mystery had its second production by the theatre department at State Fair Community College in Sedalia, Missouri in 2005. In November of 2006, A Tale of Two Heroes: The Adventures of El Matador and Flynn the Swashbuckler was presented at the University of Central Missouri as part of the 2006-2007 Performing Arts Series.

At Louisiana State University, Stokes has premiered several works, including “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls” for voice and piano, “Musings” for solo piano, “The Cliffs of Moher” for French Horn and piano, and two jazz combo pieces, “Opaque” and “Real Hot Night.” Stokes has also premiered three fixed media pieces, “Bathsheba’s Song,” “I Have a Bad Feeling About This,” and “Sigh No More Ladies,” and two live electronics pieces, “Pallindrome” and “Blue  Pinnacles.”

Stokes’s Symphony No. 1, “Eustace the Monk” was performed by the Louisiana State University Symphony on March 27, 2013. In 2015, Stokes was commissioned by the Louisiana Music Teachers Association to compose

Rondeau for solo piano, which was premiered by the composer at the annual convention at the University of Louisiana Lafayette on October 2, 2015.

Stokes also frequently records songs and has even had several of his humorous songs played on The Dr. Demento Show. Stokes has also recorded music that has been included in a national TV commercial for LG, several online ads, and recorded percussion and vocal parts used in the Ubisoft video games Watch Dogs: Legion and the upcoming Beyond Good and Evil 2.  Stokes also appeared in several episodes of the Emmy award winning YouTube Originals series Create Together in 2020-2021.

To learn more about Samuel Stokes, visit https://www.SamuelStokesMusic.com