Buffalo NY
About Sarah:
Sarah has been teaching private violin and viola lessons for the past 16 years.
Her vibrant studio in Buffalo is in it's third year and includes over two dozen young students. ​
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Sarah has three advanced degrees in violin, including a Violin Performance degree from Baldwin Wallace Conservatory (B.M), Performance and String Pedagogy from the University of Louisville (M.M) and a Performance Degree from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, Wales (M.A).
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In the past five years, Sarah has participated in workshops and pedagogy training with Mimi Zweig and Elizabeth Faidley.
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Sarah taught undergraduate violin lessons and coached chamber groups at the University of Louisville, as well as multiple workshops, string sectionals, quartet coaching in the Louisville Public School system.
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Sarah held the Graduate Teaching Assistantship at the University of Louisville playing in the Graduate String Quartet.
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The second year of her masters degree, Sarah earned a second Teaching Assistantship in Early Music where she taught secondary viol da gamba lessons and coached viol consorts in Historical Performance.
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Education:
Sarah has performed in public masterclasses for notable violinists such as Simon Fischer, Itzhak Rashkovsky, Daniel Phillips, Rachel Podger and Simon Rowland Jones.
Her primary teachers were David Updegraff, André Swanepoel and Patrick Raferty having also studied with Rachel Podger, Annie Fullard, Hal Grossman and Jullian Ross.
During her conservatory training, Sarah was concertmaster (lead violinist) of the University of Louisville Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonietta, principal in the Royal Welsh String Soloists, the concertmaster of the Royal Welsh College Opera Orchestra.
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During her last year studying in Wales, Sarah and colleagues programmed Messien’s Quartet for the End of Time as a major project performing across Wales and England.
Early Music:
Sarah’s interest in early music was first sparked by performing in Baldwin Wallace University’s Bach Festival each year during her undergraduate career.
During her graduate degree at RWCMD, she studied bass viol da gamba privately with Lucy Robinson and baroque violin from esteemed UK violinist Rachel Podger.
Sarah continues playing baroque violin today in a Buffalo Baroque ensemble and is often accompanied by her husband Alec, a harpsichordist.
When Sarah isn't teaching lessons, she might be hiking with her husband Alec and their two Chihuahuas (Ira and Rico), gardening in the backyard while listening to historical audiobooks or working on DIY projects around her home.