Sam Casseday joined the Seattle Symphony in the 2023/2024 season. Beginning on a half-sized cello tuned in fourths rather than fifths, Casseday began playing double bass at age 5, studying with his father Kevin. After graduating high school, he was accepted into the Curtis Institute of Music, studying with Harold Robinson and Edgar Meyer. In 2016, he made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Curtis Orchestra, performing the bass solo in Mahler’s First Symphony under the direction of Ludovic Morlot. As a soloist, he has performed with the Jacksonville Symphony and most recently with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, performing his own transcription of Mozart’s Fifth Violin Concerto.
