Christopher Samuel, a native of Virginia, attended James Madison University, the Royal School of Church Music, and Westminster Choir College, from which he received the Bachelor of Church Music and the Master of Music in Choral Conducting degrees. He studied organ with Joan Lippincott and Eugene Roan, conducting with Joseph Flummerfelt, Frauke Haasemann, Dennis Shrock, and Allen Crowell, and handbells with Don Allured and Robert Ivey. While at Westminster, he was the associate conductor of the Westminster Oratorio Choir, and served on the faculty of Rider College (now Rider University) in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.  In 1998, he received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting from Arizona State University, where he had been a student of Douglas McEwen and David Stocker.

From 1978 to 1982, Dr. Samuel participated in the Spoleto Festivals in Charleston, South Carolina, and Spoleto, Italy, working with Gian Carlo Menotti, Christopher Keene, and Christian Badea. At the Festivals, he served as chorus member, rehearsal accompanist, solo organist, and composer/conductor. He returned to the Charleston Festival in 1985 and 1986 as conductor and musical director of the Savannah Counterpoint Madrigal Singers, a community group that he organized in 1982. Under his direction, this group also performed at the Georgia State Convention of the American Choral Directors Association in 1986. From 1982 to1987, Dr. Samuel served as organist and director of music at Wesley Monumental United Methodist Church in Savannah, Georgia.  In 1986, he was invited to be the associate conductor of the United Methodist Festival Choir and conducted in performances of that group in New Zealand, Australia, and Hawaii.

Dr. Samuel assumed leadership of the Valley Chamber Chorale in 1988. This ensemble was invited to perform at the state convention of the Arizona Music Educators National Conference in 1991 and again in 1995. They also were chosen to perform at the Western Regional Convention of the American Guild of Organists in 1995.  In April of 1996, they sang for the Central Arizona Chapter Centennial Celebration of the "World's Largest Organ Recital," with guest artist Joan Lippincott.

Active as a choral clinician, Dr. Samuel has conducted workshops in Arizona, California, Georgia, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. As a church organist and recitalist, he has performed variously throughout the United States, England, and Italy. His music tapes for the Maximal Learning System, "Listen and Learn" (1993) and "Quick Break" (1994) are published by Learning Consultants, Phoenix, Arizona; in addition, his choral and organ compositions are available through JSAX Publications, St. Paul Minnesota. Dr. Samuel resides in Phoenix with his two children, and serves as the Director of Music Ministries at Orangewood Presbyterian Church.