Sarah Graf

Cellist Sarah Graf is an avid chamber musician, soloist, and teacher. Since moving to Colorado in 2007, Sarah has performed extensively in concert series across the region. Sarah received her undergraduate degree and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, studying with Alan Harris and Steven Doane, and attended music festivals including the Aspen Music Festival and National Orchestral Institute. She is principal cellist of the Aspen Choral Society orchestra and has filled in as principal cello with the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra. Sarah specializes in baroque performance and has played in the Freiburg Baroque Academie and Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute. In 2019 Sarah created Rocky Mountain Baroque, a historically informed performance ensemble.

As Executive Director of the nonprofit Roaring Fork Music Society and program director of the Roaring Fork Youth Orchestra, Sarah is dedicated to sharing the experience of serious musical study and performance with the next generation of young musicians.

Sarah 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 coaches the cellists of the Roaring Fork Youth Orchestra. Sarah’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.

Sarah has performed solo and chamber music recitals throughout the Western Slope of Colorado, including performances in the Music in the West End Recital Series in Aspen, CO from 2014 to 2017 as well as the Western Slope Concert Series in Grand Junction, CO. Ms. Graf is also a cellist with the Roaring Fork Chamber Players. 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.

Sarah began playing cello at the age of 9 in a public school program in Frederick, Maryland and during high school attended the Peabody Preparatory in Baltimore, MD. She believes strongly in continuing the tradition of classical music study and the importance of music education in the schools.