Samuel Leyimu

Biography

School/Class: Woodward Academy, Class of 2028
ASO Instructor: Alcides Rodriguez
Other Musical Affiliations: Emory Youth Chamber Orchestra
Summer Music Camps: Interlochen Arts Camp

Samuel Leyimu is an 11th-grade student at Woodward Academy and a rapidly advancing young clarinetist born and raised in Atlanta Georgia. He began playing the clarinet in fifth grade at Trinity Christian School in Sharpsburg, Georgia. In seventh grade, Samuel joined the Atlanta Music Project (AMP), where he continued to develop as a young musician.

In fall 2025, Samuel was admitted to both the Emory Youth Chamber Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Talent Development Program (TDP), where he studies with ASO clarinetist Alcides Rodriguez. His performance experiences with AMP have included opportunities to perform internationally and alongside professional and pre-professional ensembles. During eighth grade, he traveled with AMP to Canada, where he performed a joint concert with De La Salle, a performing arts high school. The summer after his freshman year, he traveled with AMP to South Carolina to perform a joint concert with the Spartanburg Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.

This past summer, Samuel participated in Interlochen’s Advanced Clarinet Intensive, where he studied with Michael Wayne of the Eastman School of Music. Following the intensive, he participated in Interlochen’s six-week core camp, where he performed with the World Youth Wind Symphony, studied with Renna Feller, E-flat clarinetist of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, and Sandra Jackson, Clarinet Professor at Eastern Michigan University.

Samuel hopes to build on his performance experience and continued musical training by pursuing a degree in music performance at a leading conservatory or university school of music.