Sam Nester is an Australian born trumpet player, composer, and sound artist focused on nature and our relationship to her. He has been the artist-in-residence for Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, Bruny Island (Australia), and the Festival Arts Design Acerenza (Italy). He has received commissions for the creation of site-specific environmental sound installations and musical compositions from the US State Department, the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC), Colby College, George Mason University, EcoArt Project, Metropolis Ensemble, the National Parks Arts Foundation, and the City of Hobart (Australia).

Since 2022, Nester has been working with policy officers from the European Commission Directorate-General for Environment and scientists from the Joint Research Centre on sound installations at the nexus of art, science, and policy. He is currently the artist-in-residence at the Center for Genomics and Systems Biology (CGSB) at NYU Abu Dhabi.

Nester has performed for Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival & Lincoln Center Out of Doors, the Beijing Modern Music Festival, Paris Opera Ballet, Wordless Music Orchestra, Mark Morris Dance Group, Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, and the Kennedy Center in Washington DC among others.

As a Fulbright scholar, he received a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts from the Manhattan School of Music, earning the Helen Cohn Award for outstanding performance. He serves on faculty at The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music.