Samuel Kreusler
Interdisciplinary Composer | Performer
‘Escalate is refreshing, brilliantly conceived contemporary circus that should uplift the broadest audience, perhaps especially those who strain to juggle the demands of life outside the theatre.’
– Cameron Woodhead, The Age
LISTEN
Replay Our Stories | One Night Only 2025
Prot. & Sasha | One Night Only 2025
Morgans Universe | One Night Only 2025
Triadic Dance – 2023 feat. Chloe Sanger
Ballerina | Escalate – 2022
Finale | Escalate- 2022
Friendly Fire Soundtrack – 2022
Dissolution | Commissioned by Arts Centre Melbourne 2020
Earth | Curveball 2022 by Samuel Kreusler and Rachel Lewindon
Objects of my Disaffection Soundtrack 2019
The Fox and the Platypus | Dream Again Soundtrack 2020
Outback 2022
Fight Club | Escalate 2022
ABOUT
Samuel Kreusler is a composer and guitarist whose work spans music, theatre, circus, and interdisciplinary performance. He has performed internationally, including in Florence, Italy; Edinburgh Fringe Festival; Zhangjiajie; the National Circus Festival Australia; the Netherlands; and Heidelberg, Germany. A graduate of the University of Melbourne, where he also teaches, Samuel has participated in residencies and programs including ACMI X, the Flying Fruit Fly Circus residency, the Annual Pacific Alliance of Music Schools Summit in Singapore, the Sō Percussion Summer Institute at Princeton University, and the Australian Art Orchestra mentorship program.
In 2019, Samuel was commissioned by the University of Melbourne to create an original work celebrating the re-launch of the Southbank campus, which was showcased at the Accademia Dell’Arte in Florence. In 2020, he was commissioned by Arts Centre Melbourne to produce an original composition that was featured in the SIGNAL sound walk.
Samuel has contributed extensively to the development and production of live performance. In 2022, he served as production and technical manager for composer Kate Neal and artist Sal Cooper during the redevelopment and tour of While You Sleep.
As a performer, Samuel co-created, composed, and provided original sound design for the juggling and solo electronica/guitar show Escalate, which premiered at Arts Centre Melbourne in the Fairfax Studio. Escalate won Best Circus at Melbourne Fringe 2022, toured to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2023 at the Udderbelly in St. George’s Square, and featured performances at the National Circus Festival Australia.
He has also performed in a wide variety of musical contexts, including playing guitar for Decibel New Music Ensemble’s Revolutions at Melbourne Recital Centre, performing original repertoire by Alex Olijnyk alongside Invictus Quartet for the Matilda 159 Domain project, and playing original glam rock compositions for the theatre production Theban Dolls by Saro Lusty-Cavallari.
Samuel’s compositions extend to theatre and film, including the award-winning short film Objects of My Dissaffection by Sarah-Jane Woulahan, The Trauma Project by Elizabeth Walley, From All Who Came Before at La Mama Courthouse, and Curveball by Milly Cooper.
In 2025, Samuel was the sound designer for One Night Only, a daring theatrical experiment presented by Darebin Arts Speakeasy and created by multidisciplinary artist Jackson Castiglione in collaboration with the Rawcus ensemble. The production featured a different community participant each night as the Protagonist, revisiting pivotal life moments in an improvised ensemble performance exploring connection, memory, and shared humanity.
Also in 2025, Samuel was a composer and guitarist for Realm Beyond Borders, an international concert supporting the Myanmar Jazz Club and victims of the March 28 earthquake. Developed as part of a research project by the Faculty of Therapy Sciences at SRH University Heidelberg, the project united artists from Myanmar, Germany, Australia, Iran, Thailand, Ukraine, and the USA to create original works inspired by the Buddhist realms of suffering, longing, consciousness, and transcendence. Samuel contributed music exploring the intersections of jazz composition, intercultural dialogue, music therapy, and mindful improvisation.
CONTACT
samuelzkreusler@gmail.com
Samuel Kreusler 