Violinist Sarah Wood is an experienced educator with more than twenty-five years of teaching violin, viola, chamber music, and orchestral ensembles. She currently serves as the Director of Adult Chamber Music at the Crowden School, and the Director of String Ensembles for the Peninsula Youth Orchestra. Beyond her institutional appointments, Sarah also maintains a thriving private studio, where she guides students of all ages and abilities through performances, auditions, competitions, recitals, college applications, and personal musical goals.
Past appointments include faculty member at The Crowden School, and Teaching Assistant to Dr. Lina Bahn at the University of Colorado Boulder.
As a performer, Sarah has appeared as soloist with the San Francisco Philharmonic, San Francisco Civic Symphony, Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra, and the Villa Sinfonia, Panache, and Icicle Creek Chamber Orchestras. An active international chamber musician and recitalist, she has appeared in Canada, Austria, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Hungary, Tunisia, and on Easter Island. She was also a founding member of the Circadian String Quartet (2013–2016).
An accomplished orchestral musician, Sarah has served as Concertmaster of the Auburn Symphony and has held tenured positions as Assistant Principal Second Violin with the Berkeley Symphony, Acting Assistant Concertmaster with the California Symphony, and Principal Second Violin with the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 2016, she has performed regularly with the San Francisco Symphony, appearing on national and international tours, in the innovative SoundBox concert series, and on multiple Grammy award-winning recordings. She recently joined the Oakland Symphony.
Sarah earned her Doctor of Musical Arts in Violin Performance from the University of Colorado Boulder, where she studied with Lina Bahn and Takács String Quartet violinist Károly Schranz. She also holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Violin Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Paul Kantor and William Preucil. She has also worked with Zaven Melikian, Robin Sharp, and Cathy van Hoesen, and has continued her professional development through advanced courses with violinist Nathan Cole.
In addition to modern violin, she has also completed baroque training programs with the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, violinist Mimi Mitchell, and at the Savaria Early Music Workshop in Hungary. A certified Suzuki Method teacher, she completed her Suzuki training with the renowned pedagogue Dr. William Starr.
Sarah's doctoral research included a collaboration with Violinist in Balance at the HKU Utrechts Conservatorium in the Netherlands to design ergonomic violin equipment. She presented her research at the European String Teachers' Association International Conference in Oxford, England and has given workshops at the Frost School of Music and through other musical organizations. In 2022, Sarah completed AmSAT-certified teacher training in the Alexander Technique. Since then she has assisted in teaching classes for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and works with musicians to fine-tune their set up and examine playing ergonomics.
Sarah's artistic and entrepreneurial work has been recognized through numerous grants and awards, and she has also received multiple awards recognizing excellence in performance.
When not performing, conducting an orchestra, coaching an ensemble, or working one-on-one with students, Sarah is learning new tricks for grafting fruit trees, hiking beloved trails, or spending time with friends and family.
Past appointments include faculty member at The Crowden School, and Teaching Assistant to Dr. Lina Bahn at the University of Colorado Boulder.
As a performer, Sarah has appeared as soloist with the San Francisco Philharmonic, San Francisco Civic Symphony, Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra, and the Villa Sinfonia, Panache, and Icicle Creek Chamber Orchestras. An active international chamber musician and recitalist, she has appeared in Canada, Austria, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Hungary, Tunisia, and on Easter Island. She was also a founding member of the Circadian String Quartet (2013–2016).
An accomplished orchestral musician, Sarah has served as Concertmaster of the Auburn Symphony and has held tenured positions as Assistant Principal Second Violin with the Berkeley Symphony, Acting Assistant Concertmaster with the California Symphony, and Principal Second Violin with the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 2016, she has performed regularly with the San Francisco Symphony, appearing on national and international tours, in the innovative SoundBox concert series, and on multiple Grammy award-winning recordings. She recently joined the Oakland Symphony.
Sarah earned her Doctor of Musical Arts in Violin Performance from the University of Colorado Boulder, where she studied with Lina Bahn and Takács String Quartet violinist Károly Schranz. She also holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Violin Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Paul Kantor and William Preucil. She has also worked with Zaven Melikian, Robin Sharp, and Cathy van Hoesen, and has continued her professional development through advanced courses with violinist Nathan Cole.
In addition to modern violin, she has also completed baroque training programs with the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, violinist Mimi Mitchell, and at the Savaria Early Music Workshop in Hungary. A certified Suzuki Method teacher, she completed her Suzuki training with the renowned pedagogue Dr. William Starr.
Sarah's doctoral research included a collaboration with Violinist in Balance at the HKU Utrechts Conservatorium in the Netherlands to design ergonomic violin equipment. She presented her research at the European String Teachers' Association International Conference in Oxford, England and has given workshops at the Frost School of Music and through other musical organizations. In 2022, Sarah completed AmSAT-certified teacher training in the Alexander Technique. Since then she has assisted in teaching classes for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and works with musicians to fine-tune their set up and examine playing ergonomics.
Sarah's artistic and entrepreneurial work has been recognized through numerous grants and awards, and she has also received multiple awards recognizing excellence in performance.
When not performing, conducting an orchestra, coaching an ensemble, or working one-on-one with students, Sarah is learning new tricks for grafting fruit trees, hiking beloved trails, or spending time with friends and family.
