Chris Lam Sam


In 1984 something awesome happened in the lounge of a small flat on Broderick Road in Johnsonville, Wellington. Carol, a single mum enduring the early stages of multiple sclerosis that would cruelly number the years she spent with her only son, played Glen Miller’s ‘In The Mood’ on the piano. Her three-year-old boy, little Chris Lam Sam, threw himself around the room in the throes of an impassioned dance.

A couple of years later when Carol swapped out the piano for an old Lowry organ, five-year-old Chris immediately tried playing ‘In The Mood’ from memory. It was an early indicator of his enduring preference for learning any song – he would rather hear it than read it. The wee lad on the keys was already in the grip of lifelong training, and in 2023 Chris Lam Sam became the first full-time Music Educator Animateur for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. 

Chris Lam Sam presenting Kids For Kids
Chris Lam Sam performs 3 Little Monkeys on Suzy Cato's show (2016)
Chris Lam Sam with Anika Moa and Suzy Cato backstage at Te Papa for the Rongo Rehutai Festive Concert, December 2023.
Photo credit: Chris Lam Sam's Facebook page
Te Papa Play School with Chris Lam Sam.
Chris Lam Sam and Dave Goelz (aka Gonzo)
Ryan Cooper (Mukpuddy), Chris Lam Sam and Alex Leighton (Mukpuddy)
Chris Lam Sam with the NZSO and kids, February 2024.
Photo credit: NZSO Facebook page via Chris Lam Sam
Chris Lam Sam and Kids For Kids Choir.
Chris Lam Sam and The Young Ocean Explorer - Let's Love Our Sea music video (2019)
Miss Nicky Says with Chris Lam Sam, May 2023.
Photo credit: Photo from Facebook with permission.
Chris Lam Sam with Wellington Carnival Street Band, December 2023.
Photo credit: Wellington Carnival Street Band Facebook page via Chris Lam Sam
Chris Lam Sam with Bonnie Erickson who designed most of the Muppets on his suit. Backstage at Behind the Seams, 2018.
Photo credit: Chris Lam Sam's Facebook
Chris Lam Sam with Buzz O'Bumble at a Wellington Museum exhibit, 2023.
Photo credit: Chris Lam Sam's Facebook
Chris Lam Sam's graduation with his grandparents Laurie and Margaret Martin, Hamilton, 2003.
Chris Lam Sam - The Octopus Song (2021)
Kids 4 Kids Choir (2017)
Chris Lam Sam - Song About Nothing (2021)
Chris Lam Sam and Ernie
Chris Lam Sam as a clown for dress up day at school, 1987.
Chris Lam Sam and his wife Kate one week before lockdown was announced, March 2020.
Chris Lam Sam and Carol on his 10th birthday in 1991.
Funky Monkeys - In The Summertime (2011)

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