Samuel Toro Pérez (they/he) is an Austrian-Colombian guitarist, composer and performer based in Vienna. They are specialized in contemporary music, on the concert stage as well as in contexts such as theatre, performance and media art. They like to work in collaborative settings, challenging the roles between composing, performing, creating and curating. Recent collaborations have led to solo pieces by and with Elena Rykova, Alexander Kaiser and Jorge Sánchez-Chiong. 

Samuel has been selected as a soloist for the biannual sponsorship program The New Austrian Sound of Music (NASOM) by the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (BMEIA), promoting emerging Austrian and Austria-based musicians performing abroad. Samuel has performed at the International Impuls Academy Graz, SONIC MATTER Zurich and Tarapacá Musica Festival Iquique (CL) et al.  

Samuel is a member of the Viennese trans-disciplinary collective andother stage (eg. Posthuman Social Club Series / Vienna 2023-24) and periodically collaborates with the theatre director Maximilian Hanisch (eg. the lobster / Zurich 2022, The Conversation / Basel & Berlin 2023, HER – best ever love songs vol. 2 / Zurich 2024). As a chamber musician, Samuel regularly performs nationally and internationally with ensembles such as Klangforum Wien, Phace and Black Page Orchestra at venues and festivals such as Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Library of Congress Washington,  Biennale Musica Venice, Donaueschinger Musiktage, Wien Modern and Time of Music Festival Viitasaari (FI).

As a composer they focus on ambient and drone music and on the electric guitar’s hybrid quality both as the physical extension of the performer’s body and as an interface for electroacoustic music. Scenography, performativity and feedback systems usually play an important role as well. 

Samuel holds a lectureship in contemporary guitar and chamber music at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.

In case of doubt about the gender-appropriate use of pronouns I recommend consulting the following website: https://pronouns.org/