About Samuel

Samuel Kohei Gaskin is a Paris-based organist, pianist, composer, and improviser whose work bridges classical music, jazz, and contemporary composition. As an organist, he shared First Prize in the 2023 Improvisation Competition in St. Albans, England, and was a semi-finalist in the 2024 Canadian International Organ Competition. In 2021, he was selected for The Diapason’s “20 Under 30,” a distinguished list of leaders in the organ world.

An active collaborative musician, Gaskin performs regularly with mezzo-soprano Jacquelyn Matava and appears as jazz pianist with the Inner Space Trio. With the Aruna Quartet, he released the premiere recording of William Albright’s Valley of Fire for saxophone quartet and organ in 2022.

As a composer and arranger, his recent works include Chase, for the ~Nois Saxophone Quartet, and an organ accompaniment of César Franck’s Sonata in A major for violin. His Triptyque, based on poems by Goethe, was awarded Third Prize in the Saarlouis International Organ Composition Competition. Les Animaux, a miniature suite written for young organists, will premiere in fall 2026.

After studies with Jesse Eschbach at the University of North Texas, Gaskin received a 2022–23 Fulbright study grant to France, where he completed two Artist Diplomas at the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Versailles: in organ with Jean-Baptiste Robin and in jazz studies with Sylvain Beuf. He is currently completing a Diplôme d’Études Musicales in composition and écriture with Jean-Baptiste Robin, and is a member of the Concert Artists Cooperative. He teaches classical and jazz piano at the École de musique in Le Chesnay-Rocquencourt and serves as organist at the American Church in Paris.