A current finalist at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, Belgium, Samuel Niederhauser is the principal cellist of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra.

His talent and passion for music stood out at an early age. When he receives his first cello at the age of six, he can hardly be separated from it. He begins lessons with Matthias Walpen, experiments with tones and sounds, reads his way through the student literature and by the age of nine has reached the 1st Bach Suite and his first solo performance with a Vivaldi concerto.

He continues to be nurtured in Bern with Cliodhna Ni Aodain and later in Zurich with Rebecca Firth until 2016 when, during his last year at high school, he enters the bachelor's program at the Zurich University of the Arts in the class of Thomas Grossenbacher, graduating with honors in 2020. He is currently studying in Basel with Thomas Demenga in the soloist master. He receives further stimulation through regular attendance at master classes with Frans Helmerson, David Geringas, Louise Hopkins, Jens-Peter Maintz and Troels Svane, among others.
In addition to various 1st prizes at national and international competitions, Samuel wins the Guy Fallot Prize as a semi-finalist at the Concours de Genève in 2021 and becomes Laureate of the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2022.

His further palmarès includes the "Kiefer Hablitzel|Göhner Music Prize" 2022, the study prize of the "Migros Kulturprozent" 2020, winning the "CIMA Competition" Vienna 2019 and the "Acoustica Records Youth Award" 2013 as well as performances at various festivals in Switzerland and abroad.

In addition, Samuel has performed regularly as a soloist with orchestras since 2007, including the Basel Symphony Orchestra, the Gstaad Festival Orchestra, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the Biel-Solothurn Symphony Orchestra, the Brussels Philharmonic and the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie. Since the 2022/'23 season, he has held a part-time position as principal cellist of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra.
Samuel plays a cello by Carlo Giuseppe Testore from 1690 thanks to a generous loan.