Violinist Samantha Bennett is a student of Donald Weilerstein at the New England Conservatory, and was a former merit scholar at the Music Institute of Chicago with Almita and Roland Vamos. At age 11, she made her solo orchestral debut with the Central Iowa Symphony and has since soloed with many Midwest orchestras including the Des Moines Symphony.  Samantha has performed in London’s Wigmore Hall at the invitation of the Razumovsky Academy , and her quartet, the Ridere Quartet,was featured on the second season of From the Top’s television program, Live from Carnegie Hall. Samantha has won honors and prizes both as a soloist and as a chamber musician, including the Union League Civic and Arts Competition, Walgreen’s National Competition, Second National Violin Competition, Johansen International Competition, and Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.