We recently connected with Samantha Kochis and have shared our conversation below.

Samantha, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I have recently been putting time into my “tree scores” project. Elements of nature are a common thread of my artistic practice, as I find many relatable elements between nature and sound study. “Tree Scores” is a continuous collection of graphic scores that documents the creases and messages of tree bark. Each score is made with paper and charcoal, composites of a tree’s potential life cycle. The first few scores of this project are sourced from trees located in Brooklyn, with aspirations for other locations in the future. I value my time with each tree while making these scores, and also value the interpretations that each musician has of the score. To play the score, I encourage the performer to visit the specific tree and spend time with it before performing the piece. This project is expanding, and has already had another iteration in Middlebury, VT.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have been a flutist for sixteen years now, and it is my main instrument alongside a few years of piano. I grew up in a family of computer engineers, but was always encouraged in my musical pursuits. I have never identified myself as a musician of one genre. I am often drawn towards all sorts of different genres, and gain inspiration from all sorts of artists. My high school had a strong music program that lead me to pursue music education in college. Although I still love to teach and mentor students, I decided to defer my path away from public music education and towards performance and composition. I moved to New York City in the fall of 2021 to pursue a master’s degree and prioritized my artistic practice. Throughout that time, I have found my place in free jazz, improvisation, and experimental music. This change has allowed me to open up to all sorts of different experiences and communities that have shaped who I am today.

Creating things has always felt natural to me; I rarely come into a time in my life where I have no ideas. If anything, right now I struggle to just focus my energy onto one singular project! I am very grateful for the mentors and friends who have guided me thus far, and feel positive about a future in artistic music.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Perhaps it is the freedom of creating at all times. Too often I have met individuals who say they “don’t have a creative bone in their body”. I believe that everyone is creative, and that our insecurities block us from accepting creative messages that our spirits tell us. As soon as I decided to prioritize my art more in my life, I felt more freedom to explore and cultivate and connect to others. That’s actually the other payoff: meeting so many incredible individuals in the creative community. There are always new people to meet.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I am very passionate about gender representation in the music industry. As a female-identifying musician, I have certainly experienced many occurrences of discrimination in all fields of music. It can be difficult to go through these discriminations or biases when you just want to pursue your art. I recently co-founded a concert series called “phonotonic” that features solo sets of experimental and improvised musicians. With this series, we hope to build community and provide platforms for artists who are underrepresented in the mainstream music scene.    

Contact Info:

• Website: https://samanthakochis.info
• Instagram: @Samantha_kochis
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Samantha.Kochis

Image Credits
Ken Yin Colin Tierney Peter Gannushkin / DOWNTOWNMUSIC.NET