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About Me

Origins

Sarah Rachel Evins is from Las Vegas, Nevada where she attended the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts and studied with university professors Beverly Bias and Matthew Johnson. At the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts, she was awarded “Outstanding Senior Orchestra Student” and won the Senior Concerto Competition, playing the Walton Viola Concerto with the Las Vegas Academy Philharmonic. She has played in Carnegie Hall as principal violist for the New York Youth Symphony. In Spring 2011, she premiered Sean Friar’s Hypnic Twitches for String Quartet at Weill Hall in Carnegie Hall.

Education

Sarah studied with viola professors Nicholas Cords of Brooklyn Rider and Larry Dutton of the Emerson String Quartet at Stony Brook University. There she earned her BA in viola performance and also studied musicology at the graduate level. In her undergraduate career, she had the honor to perform in the graduate orchestra, the Stony Brook Symphony, and to be coached by the Emerson Quartet and other esteemed graduate faculty. She received the prestigious Undergraduate Quartet and Michael Bane awards and was a member of the Stony Brook Chamber Ensemble. She performed at the Emerson Spring Chamber Music Festival three years in a row and performed with Emerson String Quartet violinist Phil Setzer in December 2014 alongside other distinguished Stony Brook musicians. From fall 2014 to spring 2015, she studied in Karen Ritscher's viola studio.

Currently, she is earning her masters degree at ASU's Herberger Institute for the Arts. She studies under and is the viola studio teaching assistant for Professor Nancy Buck. She has been awarded special talent awards as well as the prestigious Richard Burns viola scholarship.

Summer Festivals

Sarah has also participated in well-established music festivals such as Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute (2009) and Round Top International Music Festival (2012-2014). She received scholarships to attend BUTI's String Quartet Workshop and Young Artists Orchestra. At Round Top International music festival, she received a full fellowship, was selected to perform chamber music with the world-renowned faculty (Hakan Rosengren and Eteri Andjaparidze), and won a command performance in the “Best of 2014 Chamber Music" playing Takemitsu’s And Then I Knew ’Twas Wind.

Most recent summers have been spent in Europe. In 2015, Sarah visited Prague as a participant of the Ameropa Music Festival; among many chamber performances she played alongside David Erhlich. Most recently, Sarah was invited to be a guest artist at the Saarburg Music Festival in the beautiful wine country of Rhineland Germany. There, she was honored to collaborate with faculty William Terwilliger, Katherine McLin, Susan Lamb Cook, and Andrew Cooperstock.

Masterclasses

Solo

Sharon Wei, 2017

Phillip Ying, 2017

Victoria Chiang, 2016

Misha Amory, 2016

Brett Deubner, 2012

Chamber

Martin Beaver, 2017

Ying String Quartet, 2016-17

Sergiu Schwartz, 2016

Brentano String Quartet, 2015-2016

Nancy Buck, 2014

Stephen Balderston, 2013

Emerson String Quartet, 2012

Kurt Muroki, 2012

Kazuhide Isomura, 2011

Joel Krosnick, 2010

Attacca String Quartet, 2009

Peter Zazofsky, 2009

Teaching

Experience

I began teaching in high school as a piano instructor at the Nevada Blind Children's Foudation. Since then, I have taught as a music teaching assistant at Stony Brook University and a private violin, viola, and cello teacher. I maintained a competitive private studio in the NYC and Long Island areas. I have taught in Arizona independently, for Arizona State University as the Viola Studio Graduate Teaching Assistant, and for Kirk's Studio for the Performing Arts. For more information on becoming part of my studio, please email

Training

My training in viola comes from distinguished performers in the classical music community. I have studied with Nicholas Cords (of Brooklyn Rider), Lawrence Dutton (of the Emerson String Quartet), Karen Ritscher, and Nancy Buck. My teachers have been taught by some of the most eminent string pedagogues of their generation, including Dorothy Delay, Karen Tuttle, Lilian Fuchs, Harvey Shapiro, and Heidi Castleman. This broad survey of teaching styles and philosophies gives me a great breadth of knowledge which I apply to all of my students.

Who I teach

Whether it be beginners, who are just learning the basics of sound production and proper posture, or advanced students, who are preparing for solo competitions or orchestral and chamber performances, my students will feel empowered and strengthened by their studies with me. I cater my teaching style to my student's personalities and ages. All a student needs to study with me is an instrument and a notebook to keep track of progress.

My Approach

I hold the same approach for all my students at any level. All my violin students will:

be empowered by their violin technique, through diligent study of études and exercises (my favorites include Wohlfahrt and Kreutzer)
play with good form in order to prevent injury and increase longevity (how to prevent tendonitis and muscle fatigue)
learn how to focus in order to accomplish goals, including practice strategies-practice performance situations regularly in order to overcome performance anxiety
be encouraged to challenge themselves with sight
reading each lesson (including duets and new repertoire)
learn expression and musicality alongside repertoire.