Sam Falotico (sfalotic@u.rochester.edu) is a first-year Ph.D. student and Sproull Fellow in music theory at the Eastman School of Music. His current research focuses on anime OPs and EDs (openings and endings), anison (anime song), and J-pop more broadly. Other interests of his include the music of Hiromi; the relationship between cadence, form, and meter; and theories/issues of transcription. He has presented over a dozen papers on these and other topics at graduate, regional, and national conferences.

Sam currently serves as a teaching assistant at Eastman, and he has previously taught as an adjunct at Hofstra University; as an adjunct and graduate TA at Hunter College; and as a graduate TA at the University of Colorado Boulder. An active transcriber, Sam has transcribed works by Hiromi, Laufey, Machico, and others; many of these are uploaded to his YouTube channel (youtube.com/@samfal), where he also occasionally live-streams transcribing.

Aside from his work as a theorist and his other musical pursuits, Sam enjoys his quest to find the best ramen shop, watching and playing competitive Smash Bros., and spending time with his fiancée. He has previously studied at Hunter College of the City University of New York (M.A., Music Theory), the University of Colorado Boulder (M.M., Music Theory; transferred after first year), and Hofstra University (B.S., Music Theory & Composition). For more, see his creatively-titled website: samfaloti.co.