Computer Music Journal, Volume 29, Issue 4 (Winter, 2005)
14th Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival, 2005
Review by Larry Austin
"'New Reactions', by Samuel Hamm, colorfully sets a short, recited poem of the same name by Neil Flory, expertly exploring a variety of time-stretching processes."

Society of Composers, Inc., Newsletter XXXV:1 (January 2005)
Review by Scott Brickman
"Complimenting the multimedia works were pieces using extended techniques. Among these, Samuel Hamm's 'Absence of Joy' and Paul Elwood's 'Among Vanished Aviators' both integrated electronics in addition to extended techniques. Absence of Joy began with the pianists bowing the low register, which became elegantly integrated in a salad bowl including what struck me as references to Cowell's 'The Banshee' and the later music of the Smashing Pumpkins."

The Buffalo News - April 23, 1999
UB computer music induces new auditory experiences
Review by Garaud MacTaggart
"Sam Hamm's 'Big Pile of Stuff'... built electronic chorales that could have been the music of tectonic plates clashing while lathes spun and Vulcan chipped off sub-atomic particles from diamond rods."

Time Out New York - September 18, 1997
Review: The Evil Spell of the Butterfly
Review by James Oseland
"Although 'Butterfly' is performed entirely in Spanish, it strikes emotional chords that require no translation. Director Tony Mata has staged a visually crisp production that transcends wordplay, and Samuel J. Hamm Jr.'s musical score, lush with classical guitar, bolsters the narrative nicely."

The New York Times - September 10, 1997
Butterfly, Poor Butterfly? Nah. Poor Cockroach
Review by D.J.R. Bruckner
"Mr. Mata and 11 actors and dancers, with impressive help from the music of Samuel J. Hamm, Jr., and the amusing imagination of the costume designer, Katherine L. Rodman... [with] elegant dance movements and the ingenious manipulation of a huge linen banner they create a spectacular ending as the imperious butterly floats away from the rejected, expiring cockroach. This is tragedy to die for."

The Village Voice - September 9, 1997
Theatre
Review by Francine Russo
"Ay, a young man dies for love - well, a young beetle who spins lush poetry like the 22-year-old poet who penned this haunting fragment. Federico Garcia Lorca's 'The Evil Spell of the Butterfly' (Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre) is a rarely performed rough jewel displaying many of the hallmarks of Lorca's mature work, from broad peasant humor and folklore to a visceral foreboding and fascination with death. Though the production is in Spanish, all you need to know is that the young poet-beetle falls desperately in love with a beautiful, dying white butterfly. Their dance of love becomes the prologue to his funeral march, as he gives up his soul and she rises triumphant above his bier. Composer Samuel J. Hamm, Jr. weaves a magical spell with the music of birdsong, strings, and flute. Francisco Martinez and Marilyn Seri are riveting in their sensual dance of struggle and death. Director Tony Mata's imagery - especially the final scene of billowing draperies rising floor to ceiling as butterfly wings - is stunning. No translation required."