Composer, jazz arranger, trumpet and piano player, Dr. Sam Lussier is Director of Jazz Studies at Jacksonville State University where he directs the JSU Jazz Orchestra and teaches Jazz & Applied Trumpet.

Sam received the Doctorate in Education degree from Florida International University (where he was Director of Jazz Studies from 2002 - 2008), and was a full scholarship recipient and graduate assistant at the University of Miami (UM) where he obtained his Master of Music degree in Studio Jazz Writing.

Sam has composed and arranged music for a variety of ensembles including Concert Bands, Big Bands, Studio Orchestras, Vocal Groups, and Combos. His music has been performed Nationally and Internationally by the Airmen of Note, the University of Miami Concert Jazz Band, the FIU Big Band, and the New World School of the Arts Jazz Band at prestigious events such as the Mid-West Band Conference in Chicago and the International Association for Jazz Education conventions throughout the United States.

Sam's Salute to Sinatra Overture - a 20-minute showcase for Big Band - was the grand finale to the 1989 Ottawa International Jazz Festival in Ottawa, Canada. After three years as staff arranger, trumpet soloist, and replacement pianist for the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) Regimental Band, he accepted a position as arranger for the Calgary Stampede Grandstand Show where over 200,000 people yearly, from 1993 to 1995, could hear his music.

Many outstanding musicians such Arturo Sandoval, Duffy Jackson, Steve Houghton, the Woody Herman Orchestra, Allan Harris, Kevin Mahogany, Lisanne Lyons, Michael Gerber, Rachel Lebon, Ignacio Berroa, Gary Campbell, Mike Orta, Nicole Henry, the Florida State IAJE Faculty Big Band, and many other jazz artists have performed Sam's jazz compositions and arrangements.

Recent recordings of Sam's works include the Miami All-Star Big Band Hard Bop …and Loving it! & Miami Nice, the FIU Big Band's Live - In Living Color, Jazz: Hot & Cool and Jazz: 2Hot & 2Cool, Rachel Lebon Voicings, Duffy Jackson Legends of Drumming, and the University of North Florida Jazz Ensemble Seems Like Old Times. Recent commissions include Paul Green, the June Taylor Dance Company, South Miami Middle School, and the New World School of the Arts' Dance Connection.

As a trumpet player, Sam has performed and recorded with numerous artists including Bob Hope, Dionne Warwick, Natalie Cole, Deanna Martin, Michael Brecker, Joe Henderson, Slide Hampton, Red Rodney, Ira Sullivan, Bill Watrous, Paquito D'Rivera, Clark Terry, Louis Bellson, Don Menza, Phil Woods, Jim McNeely, John Fedchock, and many others. He has also performed in numerous shows for the Actors Playhouse and with the Florida Philharmonic and Florida Grand Opera.