Sammi Joy was born an artist and curious about music from the start. She was putting on home shows as a 5-year-old in her Long Island home, singing solos in the school choir, playing in the marching band, and doing theater, throughout all of her school years.
She began performing professionally with a European-touring choir as a young teen, caught the travel bug, and lived in South America for one year, at sixteen.
Her musical thirst & singing obsession continued throughout.
Sammi studied at Columbia College in Chicago to obtain her Bachelor of Music in Contemporary Urban Pop - a unique degree program that covered the standard music performance curriculum with added classes & experiences in recording & production, songwriting, band-leading, ethnomusicology, and music business. While in Chicago, Sammi led a live-performing indie-pop band as a singer, instrumentalist, and songwriter.
She performed in staple Chicago venues for vocal jazz performances, and original music venues with her band and also volunteered as an assistant with a board-certified music therapist for children on the autism spectrum.

Sammi spent several years living in New Orleans, after Chicago, where her fiery, musical passion and performance style developed further.
She was in a variety of music projects ranging from R&B and Hip-Hop to indie-rock & singer-songwriter, to Bossa Nova and Jazz. This time and space to explore music creation, performance, and lifestyle allowed Sammi to “lock in” her songwriting and artistry skills.
From the Chicago and New Orleans years, Sammi performed, arranged, and wrote with pop legends like Paula Cole and Ivan Neville, worked as a session vocalist for several original music projects, performed as a jazz vocalist for several working bands, and continued to fuse her vocal passion with songwriting grit and truth.

Throughout Sammi’s artist-development years, she had a vision of making sure that she would always be committed to helping people with music by teaching, someday providing a therapeutic service, and providing music through self-care and community-building activities.
After graduating college, while still in Chicago and throughout New Orleans and California,
Sammi has worked as a music program director and instructor for camps, learning centers, schools, private sessions, and group workshops.

Sammi Joy continues her vision of blending performance, recording, teaching, and therapeutic music to bring more quality, intentional sound, where it’s needed most.
She continues to develop as a helping musician and has founded a nonprofit, Music NOW, to bring more funds from music entertainment to music ed and music therapy service providers and clients. She is now a certified Therapeutic Musician under the National Standards Board for Therapeutic Musicians.

By providing “harp wellness” sessions for individuals and groups, Sammi is bringing new awareness and purpose for sound within communities. Yoga classes, therapy sessions, group communication work & bonding workshops, schools & learning centers, hospitals & clinics, and homes, can all benefit from using music more intentionally, participating in music-care sessions, and learning how to integrate the language of music more profoundly in your life so you can feel less stress and more joy & ease.