Background
He was born with a congenital heart condition that required him to undergo surgery at the age of nine.
He was born with a congenital heart condition that required him to undergo surgery at the age of nine.
He studied at Hunter College and at the Juilliard School under Sergius Kagen and Irwin Freundlich.
Sanders was famous for the loyalty of his collaborators. Among the artist with whom he collaborated are Hermann Baumann (horn), Jacqueline DuPre (cello), Joshua Bell (violin). Kyung Wha Chung (violin), Jaime Laredo (violin), Yo-Yo Ma (cello), Jessye Norman (soprano), Rachel Barton Pine (violin), Paula Robison (flute), Leonard Rose (cello), Mstislav Rostropovich (cello), Robert White (tenor), Eugenia Zukerman (flute), and Pinchas Zukerman (violin).
With Chilean cellist Andres Diaz (cello) Sanders formed Dias-Sanders Duo.
He received honorary doctorates from Lehman College and the Saint Louis Conservatory of Music (CASA), and taught for more than three decades at the Juilliard School, where he helped found a degree program for collaborative pianists. Samuel Sanders died at New York Presbyterian Hospital in 1999.
He was 62 and lived in Manhattan.