Sarah Graf, cello
Sarah Graf is an active performing cellist and teacher in the Roaring Fork Valley region of Colorado. She first came to Aspen in 2007 as a student of the Aspen Music Festival after completing an undergraduate degree in cello performance and Performer’s Certificate at the Eastman School of Music. Sarah specializes in baroque cello performance and chamber music. She has taken part in many summer festivals such as the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute, Freiburg Ensemble Academie for baroque and modern performance practice, the Bowdoin Music Festival, and the National Orchestral Institute. Sarah performs solo and chamber music recitals throughout the Roaring Fork Valley and the Western Slope. She believes in sharing the joy of serious musical study and performance with the next generation of young cellists.
Ms. Graf has organized and performed solo and chamber music recitals throughout the Roaring Fork Valley and the Western Slope of Colorado. These include performances in the Western Slope Concert Series in Grand Junction, CO the Music in the West End concert series in Aspen, CO and the Sunday concert series at the Montrose Library. Ms. Graf is also a cellist with the Roaring Fork Chamber Players, a group of professional musicians who organize and perform classical music concerts for audiences throughout the Western Slope. In 2013, she brought the performers of the Roaring Fork Chamber Players to Steve’s Guitars for the venue’s inaugural classical music show. Ms. Graf performed in the 2012 and 2013 Salons at Justice Snows in Aspen, CO and has also recorded with numerous local artists and bands and enjoys finding ways to add cello into untraditional settings.
During her time at Eastman School of Music, Ms. Graf was active in both contemporary and early music performance, working with both the Ossia New Music Ensemble and Collegium Musicum. Ms. Graf’s cello studies include work with such acclaimed teachers as Alan Harris, Steven Doane, and Troy Stuart, and baroque specialists Paul O'dette, Christel Thielmann, and Kristian Bezuidenhout. She has also played in masterclasses and workshops for Ronald Leonard, Guido Larisch, and Bobby McFerrin.
Ms. Graf has taught cello lessons for more than ten years in both her home town of Frederick, Maryland and in the area surrounding Aspen, Colorado. She maintains a studio of private cello students and mentors cellists of the Roaring Fork Youth Orchestra. Ms. Graf’s Suzuki teacher training includes Levels 1 and 2 with teacher Pamela Davenport at the Ithaca Suzuki Institute in Ithaca, NY, Level 3 with Ann Grabe at the Oregon Suzuki Institute in 2015, and Level 9-10 with David Evenchick at the Suzuki Institute in Montreal, Canada. Ms. Graf is also Executive Director of the Roaring Fork Music Society, a nonprofit organization which includes the Roaring Fork Youth Orchestra and the Roaring Fork Chamber Players.