ABOUT ME

(All images by Amanda Whiteley)

A born and raised New Yorker, Sami is a proud graduate of Brown University (B.A. Theatre Arts) and an advanced lyricist and librettist in the world-renowned BMI LEHMAN ENGEL MUSICAL THEATRE WORKSHOP.

In 2019, she was named one of The York Theatre Company's NEW, EMERGING, OUTSTANDING (NEO) WRITERS along with collaborator Amanda D'Archangelis. In 2024, the music of D’Archangelis & Horneff was featured on PLAYBILL’S SONGWRITER SERIES.

RECENT CREDITS INCLUDE: THE RADIUM GIRLS: A JAW-DROPPING NEW MUSICAL (Lyrics & Book), the winner at The Players Theatre BOO! Short Play Festival in 2017, a 2018 Eugene O'Neill NMTC Semifinalist, five-time winner at the 2021 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival after its world premiere virtual production through Western Connecticut State University’s New Works - New Voices festival, and most recently, a 2022 NAMT Festival finalist; SINGLE RIDER (Lyrics & Book), which ran at The Players Theatre Off-Broadway in Spring of 2018 and has since been optioned by David Treatman Creative; COMING ATTRACTION (Lyrics), a new musical about the life of Hollywood icon Greta Garbo, which premiered as a staged reading at the Wilbury Theatre Group in Providence, RI; ArtsPower National Touring Theatre’s JUDY MOODY & STINK (Lyrics) based on the bestselling book series by Megan McDonald; THE BREAK (Lyrics, Omaha Creative Institute); ROCK AND A HARD PLACE (Music & Lyrics), which was presented in a star-studded reading starring Constantine Maroulis in 2015; A NEVER-ENDING LINE (Lyrics, Off-Broadway); and ACROSS THE SKY (Lyrics & Book), a new family musical based on the children’s book Elinda Who Danced in the Sky.

Sami Horneff & Amanda D’Archangelis

Sami has also written songs for film and the web including: THE UNDER 5ERS WEB SERIES (Writer/Producer), for which she was nominated for a 2016 Indie Series Award for Best Original Song; and lyrics for an original song in the 2020 feature film A RING FOR CHRISTMAS (UPtv).

Her work has also been performed at Green Room 42, The Metropolitan Room, The Duplex, Prohibition NYC, Northwestern University, The University of Alabama, Lied Center for Performing Arts, and Feinstein’s/54 Below.

UPCOMING PROJECTS: Lyrics for THE PIRATE PRINCESS with music by Ben Diskant and book by Alix Sobler; THE BANDIT QUEEN with Amanda D’Archangelis, a new musical exploring the extraordinary life of Pearl Hart, the Wild West’s most notorious female bandit; and PANDORA IN BLUE JEANS, a show about the life of Peyton Place author Grace Metalious, in collaboration with Amanda D’Archangelis on music and Adam Fox Morrison on book.