Chris Lam Sam is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most recognisable musical entertainers for young families.

After completing a Bachelor of Music majoring in composition at the University of Waikato in 2002, he went on to earn a Graduate Diploma in Primary Teaching at the Waikato School of Education in 2005. In 2008 he combined his qualifications to begin working as a full-time musical entertainer for children.

A generation of New Zealanders now recognise him as a member of The Funky Monkeys, a musical children’s supergroup he and his friends began in 2003. Together they performed over 900 live shows to 1.7 million people, produced seven albums, two DVD’s, won the inaugural APRA NZ Best Children’s Music Video Award in 2008, and co-produced the album that won Waikato Plunket the Prime Minister’s Award For Innovation in 2010.

Chris has continued long associations with a number of productions for children; he has been Musical Director for the Kids For Kids choir concerts since 2009, he has performed the Sailor Asthma Show over 600 times for the Asthma & Respiratory Foundation of NZ since 2013, and he performed regularly as the Animateur for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra’s education concerts since 2016.

In early 2017, Lam Sam flew to London to release his first co-authored children’s book with kiwi illustrator, Angela Keoghan and their publisher, the TATE Museum. Their book Inspector Brunswick: Case Of The Missing Eyebrow went on to win the 2018 Storylines Notable Book Award alongside co-winners Dame Lynley Dodd, DNZM, and Dame Joy Cowley, ONZ.

Since 2019 he has successfully been awarded $50,000 in funding from NZ On Air, enabling him to launch five different projects including his first independent children’s music single and video Let’s Love Our Sea as part of a musical collaboration with award-winning underwater photographer, Steve Hathaway from Young Ocean Explorers.

In 2020 he received a $25,000 grant from Creative NZ to produce is first independent album of Silly Funny Songs For Kids. Six months later the album was a finalist for an Aotearoa Music Award - the Recorded Music NZ Te Kaipuoro Waiata Tamariki Toa /  Best Children’s Music Artist.

In 2022 he won the NZ On Air ‘Best Children’s Music Video’ Award for his ‘Song About Nothing’ music video, produced by Mukpuddy Animation.

As an active advocate for the NZ children’s music industry, Lam Sam was a founding board member of the Kiwi Kids Music Trust, the charitable arm of Kiwi Kids Music Collective. He served as Secretary for a year before being voted in as Chair, replacing well-known children’s TV presenter and song writer, Suzy Cato until Feb 2021. From 2014-2019 he was also Chair of The Goodtime Foundation, a charitable trust working to provide free music lessons, instruments, and life skills mentoring for underprivileged school children.

Lam Sam’s musical entertainment work in the corporate and comedy spheres has seen him performing as the occasional ‘lone keyboardist’ for the Improv Bandits since 2001. He performed at their 20th Anniversary Show featuring Who’s Line Is It Anyway? guest star, Colin Mochrie. Lam Sam continues to perform one-off character based musical shows with seasoned actor, opera singer, and improvisor, Greg Ward. Lam Sam was also keyboardist for popular swing-funk band Late 80’s Mercedes from 2013-2018.

In his time as a musical performer, he has toured two different children’s shows the full-length of New Zealand, and has also performed shows in Australia, Denmark, England, and Hawaii.

Chris currently lives in Wellington with his wife and three sons, and continues to tour and perform original music for young families in his independent show, Mr. Lam Sam’s Musical Mayhem Show.