A virtuoso on tuba, Sam Pilafian grew up in Miami. He has been a student of the instrument his entire life, receiving fellowships at Dartmouth and Tanglewood. In 1971, he received the attention of Leonard Bernstein and played at the world premier of Bernstein's "Mass" at Kennedy Center in Washington. Pilafian is also a founding member of the Empire Brass Quintet and the large brass ensemble Summit Brass. In addition, he has recorded and performed with Pink Floyd, the Boston Symphony, Bernadette Peters and the Duke Ellington Orchestra. In 1991, Pilafian teamed up with acoustic guitarist Frank Vignola, creating the duo Travelin' Light. Dedicated to swing, classical and jazz standards, they have releases on the Telarc and Summit labels. Pilafian released Meltdown in 1998 with Scott Zimmer on alto and soprano saxophones performing the music of Ravel, Bartok, Thelonious Monk, Ornette Coleman and Captain Beefheart. He has also been a faculty member of various music programs, having held positions at Arizona State University, Boston University and Tanglewood Institute. Furthermore, he also serves at president of T.U.B.A., a world wide tuba organization.