The UNC School of Music Welcomes Dr. Sarah Off to the faculty as the all new Professof of Violin and Music Business. Sarah brings a passion for bringing music and education to rural communities in Colorado that will serve our university in countless ways.
Violinist Sarah Off has established herself as an innovative and passionate performer and educator. She regularly performs as a soloist and chamber musician and has performed in Iceland’s Harpa International Music Festival, Manchester Music Festival in Vermont, Music in the Mountains Festival in Colorado and in such venues as Lincoln Center, Meyerson Symphony Center, Boettcher Hall and a tour of Latvia. Sarah appeared as soloist with the Boulder Symphony, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra’s “Up Close and Musical”, the Music in the Mountains Conservatory Chamber Orchestra, and is looking forward to performing Lou Harrison’s Concerto for Violin and Percussion during the Fall of 2018 with the Adams State University Percussion Ensemble in Colorado. An avid chamber musician, Sarah has had the privilege of working and performing with the Brentano, Juilliard, Takacs, and Orion String Quartets, the Arizona Contemporary Music Ensemble, and the American Composer Alliance. Sarah is also a resident performing artist for the Mt. Blanca Fine Arts Association Concert Series in Colorado. Sarah was the violinist and co-founder of Tandem Duo with percussionist Marilyn Clark Silva from 2011-2018. As composers and advocates of new music, Tandem Duo wrote, commissioned, and premiered newly composed works. In 2016, they hosted the International Kondo Festival which showcased the work of Japanese composer Kohei Kondo. During this time, they premiered several of Kondo’s works with the composer in attendance. In 2017 the Tempe Center for the Arts Theater commissioned Tandem Duo to compose and perform the original score to the play Some Velvet Morning by Neil LaBute. Shortly after, Tandem Duo was named “Resident Artist Group” for TCA. Tandem Duo released their sophomore album Velvet Scraps in 2017 and began collaborations with The Bridge Initiative Theater Group, EPIK Dance Company, and The Torch Theater. In 2018 Tandem released their final album Dear Elizabeth shortly after performing the premier of their score for the play “Dear Elizabeth” in collaboration with the Bridge Initiative Theater. Having grown up in the rural Colorado town of Del Norte, Sarah has a strong passion for finding opportunities for rural areas to experience the musical arts. She is Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Mt. Blanca Summer Music Conservatory in Colorado and regularly performs in concerts throughout rural areas of the Southwest. In 2017, she completed her Doctoral document on “Arts in Rural Areas- Building Musical Communities in Rural Areas”. Shortly after the completion of her document she was invited to present on this topic at the College Music Society Great Plains, Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain Conferences, the Arizona Music Educators Association Conference, and the Colorado Music Teachers Association Conference. In 2018, she was invited to present on “Musical Arts in Rural Areas” at the College Music Society National Conference in Vancouver, BC. Sarah is an enthusiastic music educator and is currently the Violin Instructor and Orchestra Director at South Mountain Community College in Arizona. She is also a strings instructor at Prestige Music Academy in Phoenix, AZ along with maintaining her own private studio. She has performed and taught as a guest artist at Sam Houston State University, Sacramento State University and Southern Oregon University, among others. In the summers of 2012 and 2013 she served as violin instructor and chamber music coach at Conservatory Music in the Mountains in Durango, CO. Sarah received her Doctorate and Masters in Violin Performance at Arizona State University under Danwen Jiang, and her Bachelor of Violin Performance from University of Colorado under Lina Bahn and Judith Ingolfsson. Formerly, she studied with Arkady Fomin, Dallas Symphony Violinist, and Artistic Director of the New Conservatory of Dallas.
