AMUEL BACKMAN earned degrees at Saint Olaf College (BM), the Yale School of Music (MM), and a doctorate from the University of Oklahoma. He studied organ—performance and improvisation—with John Ferguson, Catherine Rodland, Martin Jean, Brian Luckner, Damin Spritzer, and John Schwandt. He studied conducting with Anton Armstrong, Christopher Aspaas, Maguerite Brooks, and Timothy Mahr. Samuel is a recipient of many distinguished scholarships and awards, including Saint Olaf College’s G. Winston Cassler Scholarship, Yale’s Mary Baker Award for excellence in organ accompaniment, the (Chicago) Lutheran School of Theology’s Ruth and Paul Manz Scholarship, as well as a nomination to PI KAPPA LAMBDA (a national honor society for music).
Samuel Backman currently serves as Director of Sacred Music at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he chairs a multi-faceted music program across three campuses. Samuel functions as principal organist and as conductor for the HOLY CROSS CHOIR, SAINT HELENA SINGERS, and TENEBRAE CHOIR. An active performer, Dr. Backman has been featured as an organ recitalist for conferences hosted by the American Guild of Organists and the Church Music Association of America.
Dr. Backman’s performances have also been featured on PIPEDREAMS, a nationally distributed public radio program service hosted by Michael Barone. He is a composer and arranger (choir, organ, piano, and chamber ensembles), and his compositions have been published by Paraclete Press. In January 2024, he premiered “Symfonia Kolęd”—a four-movement symphony for organ—and will soon debut a 30-minute song cycle for soprano and organ.
