ABOUT
" ...a committed and talented musician who also has top-notch academic skills, an agile mind, and an inquisitiveness that ties together her performance and scholarly endeavors".
-Professor Ryan Minor, Stony Brook University
Education
Sarah earned her Master of Music in Viola Performance at the Arizona State University School of Music, studying under Professor Nancy Buck. She also served as a teaching assistant to the ASU Viola Studio, teaching undergraduate viola students both in lessons and group classes. She was awarded Special Talent scholarships and was also sole recipient of the Richard Burns viola scholarship for two years.
As an undergraduate, Sarah studied with viola professors Nicholas Cords of Brooklyn Rider and Larry Dutton of the Emerson String Quartet at Stony Brook University in Long Island, New York. There she earned her BA in viola performance and also studied musicology at the graduate level. In her undergraduate career, she was regularly invited to perform in the graduate orchestra, the Stony Brook Symphony, and to be coached by the Emerson Quartet and other graduate faculty. She played as violist in the SBU Undergraduate Quartet, received the Michael Bane award in 2012, 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 graduate musicians. From fall 2014 to spring 2015, she studied privately in Karen Ritscher's viola studio in Manhattan, New York.
Summer Festivals
Sarah has played at Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute (2009) and Round Top International Music Festival (2012, 2013, 2014). She received scholarships to attend BUTI's String Quartet Workshop and Young Artists Orchestra. At Round Top International music festival, she received full fellowships each year, was selected to perform chamber music with faculty in 2013 with 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.
In 2015, Sarah visited Prague as a participant of the Ameropa Music Festival; among many chamber performances in the Czech Republic, 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
Erika Eckert, 2018
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
Notable Performances
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Tempe Center of the Arts Theatre (2019):
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"Performance with a View" program featuring the ASU Collaborative Piano Studios, Märchenbilder
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Mayo Clinic (2015, 2017):
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Visiting String Quartet Program biannual visit, Brahms String Quartet Op. 67 and Shostakovich Quartet No. 9, respectively
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Saarburg Music Festival in Germany (2016):
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Guest artist throughout two-week festival
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Round Top Music Festival Institute (2013, 2014):
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Chamber performance with faculty, Prokofiev's Overture on Hebrew Themes
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Chamber Music Showcase, Takemitsu's And then I knew Twas Wind
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Stony Brook University (2011-2013):
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Emerson String Quartet Chamber Music Festival, four performances
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Carnegie Hall (2009-2011):
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NYYS Orchestra, six performances, three as principal violist
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NYYS Composition, 2011 premier of Sean Friar's Hypnic Twitches for string quartet
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Las Vegas Academy (2009):
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Senior Concerto Competition Winner, Walton's Viola Concerto
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