With a background in both drum set and percussion performance, Sam Ruttenberg has performed with artists Dave Brubeck, Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, and Lena Horne to name just a few. He has also performed with the Pennsylvania Ballet, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Orchestra 2001, Salute to Vienna Orchestra, and the Philly Pops.
Sam is an active drum set clinician, presenting clinics in the U.S., Europe, and South America. Sam has toured and recorded with the Houston Symphony, Houston Ballet, and Houston Pops Orchestras, and has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Radio City Music Hall, and the Kennedy Center.
Sam’s students include Justin Faulkner (Branford Marsalis), and has coached drummers John Roberts (Janet Jackson) and Shirazette Tinnin (Tia Fuller). He currently teaches drummers who attend Berklee College of Music in Boston, Belmont University in Nashville, and a young drummer who plays in the Studio Jazz Band at Princeton High School (the school that the movie WHIPLASH was modeled after) who toured in London and recorded at Abbey Road Studios with Jazz great Randy Brecker.
Sam taught at the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia (the largest community music school in the U.S.), and has taught adjunct at Camden County College, Rutgers University Camden, and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Sam also teaches with PMAY (Philadelphia Music Alliance for Youth), and one of his students there will be playing with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra this Spring. Sam also presented his clinic last winter with drumming legend Bernard Purdie.
Sam has written articles for PAS Percussive Notes and Modern Drummer Magazine. Sam was a longtime student of Joe Morello, and worked closely on the creative aspect of his Master Studies II book. Sam also wrote his own book entitled “Drum Tips” (HoneyRock 2009), and created the HingeStix® practice drumsticks, which won BEST in SHOW at NAMM 2011.
Sam received a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Miami, a Master’s Degree from the Juilliard School, and has product endorsements with Sabian Cymbals, Vic Firth Drumsticks, Remo Drumheads, and Ludwig Drums.
