Born in England, Samantha moved to Australia with her family at the age of seven. She began playing  the guitar at the age of nine.  Her teachers included Sebastian Jorgensen; Peter Lynch, at the Victorian College of the Arts; and Gregory Pikler at Sydney Conservatorium.  In 1992 she was a finalist in the Shell Darwin International Guitar Competition, where she received a special commendation.  After completing a Bachelor of Arts Degree, majoring in English Literature, at the University of Sydney in 1994, she furthered her musical studies at the Royal College of Music in London. Having been accepted into the Post-Graduate Diploma of Performance Studies on a Senior Exhibition Scholarship she studied under Carlos Bonell and on graduating in 1997 was awarded the Madeline Walton Guitar Prize and is an Associate of the Royal College of Music, London.

Samantha has participated in numerous masterclasses with some of the top guitarists and composers in the world, including John Williams, Alirio  Diaz, Leo Brouwer, Phillip Houghton, David Russell, John Mills, Timothy Kain, Stephen Dodgson, Ignacio Rodes and Nikita Koshkin.

Since finishing her studies she has given solo recitals in England, Wales, Australia and Spain. In 2001 she recorded a Cd entitled The Exotic Guitar which featured music by the Australian composer Phillip Houghton with whom she has had a professional association for many years. 

Her second CD entitled, For Love...and a small bag of diamonds, was released in November 2008.  This CD is a compilation of mainly Spanish and South American pieces  with many guitar favourites such as Sounds of Bells, Capricho Arabé, Lagrima, El Negito and La Gatica. In 2012 Sam will release a CD of music by Maria Linnemann.

Her other interests include writing poetry, walking and photography.