Roy and Mary Samuelsen Scholarship
Roy Samuelsen was born June 12, 1933 in Moss, Norway and came to America as a young man. His voice studies at Brigham Young University were interrupted by military service, although he took advantage of excellent instruction by Joseph Heuler while stationed in Würzburg, Germany. After his discharge, Samuelsen returned to Utah and completed a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education in 1961. He enrolled in graduate studies at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where his voice darkened naturally into a true bass baritone with depth, range, and power. He completed his Master's Degree in 1963, and was invited to join the faculty of IU Jacobs School of Music as Professor of Voice.
As a professional opera, concert, and recital singer, he has performed over 100 roles with companies including the New York City Opera, Kansas City Lyric Opera, Norwegian Royal Opera, and others in Dallas, Kentucky, and Indianapolis. After 34 years as a professor and resident artist at IU, Professor Samuelsen retired from active teaching in 1997, but continues to perform recital programs throughout the world.
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1935, Mary Samuelsen earned her Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Education from Indiana University. Throughout her 28-year career as an elementary school teacher, Mrs. Samuelsen introduced hundreds of children to musical productions. For 10 years, she took students to opera performances at Indiana University. She was also involved in "Creating Original Opera" workshops sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera Education Department in Wisconsin and New York. Sharing her love of music in the classroom, she helped children write and produce their own operas. She authored a guide for elementary school teachers titled "Classroom Opera" and assisted the Utah Festival Opera present the guide to teachers in the Logan, Utah area.
In 1997, the Samuelsens established the Roy and Mary Samuelsen Scholarship to help deserving young singers achieve their goals in the field of vocal performance. The Jacobs School of Music is honored to award the Roy and Mary Samuelsen Scholarship to undergraduate students majoring in voice.