

Bio
Samuel was born in Accra, Ghana, and immigrated to Atlanta, Georgia with his family during the 1996 Olympics. Music found him early. While still a teenager at Benjamin E. Mays High School, where he received the school's most distinguished Character Award. Sam started his own saxophone tutoring and performance business, offering young people in Southwest Atlanta a creative outlet and a reason to believe in themselves. He went on to study saxophone with Ryan Kilgore and tour with Sonnie Badu, discovering early what would become the throughline of his life: that art is the oldest form of spiritual care, and that a single note, like a single word, can help a person feel seen.
That conviction led Sam first into chaplaincy and later into writing, each a different instrument for the same calling. He holds a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, where he received the Robert P. Goodlin Award for excellence in clinical chaplaincy, and is an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA). He currently serves as Director of Spiritual Care & Well-Being at Penn Medicine Princeton Health, leading a team of chaplains and chaplain educators in tending to the souls of patients, families, and healthcare staff, and is a Certified Educator Candidate with the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education.
Sam is also the founder and CEO of The Hidden Circle, a private luxury entertainment service bringing rare musical experiences to discerning clients. He performs as a saxophonist with bands across Philadelphia, Atlantic City, and New Jersey, bringing the same presence to the stage that he brings to the bedside — the belief that music, like ministry, is ultimately an act of listening. He writes as an extension of that same work, putting language to the experiences of grief, joy, healing, and meaning he has witnessed across more than a decade of sacred and creative practice.
In 2012, Sam was named a Global Young Entrepreneur of the Year by the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship in partnership with Goldman Sachs. He lives in New Jersey with his family, and outside of his work can be found at a great comedy show, in tears at a film that moved him, with a strong cup of coffee in hand, on a motorcycle, or lost in a good poem.