Sarah Foard blends the clean sounds of a classical violinist with the energy of Irish reels and the soul of early American jazz. Sarah began studying the violin at the age of five in Huntington, West Virginia where she practiced violin every day with her great-grandmother and concert pianist, Dede (Mary Shep Mann). Sarah completed a music degree at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music studying with Patricia Green, Laura Kobayashi, Piotr Milewski, and Rebecca Henry. She has also studied jazz violin with Eddie Drennon and improvisation with Tina Chancey. Sarah has performed at numerous venues throughout the DC area including the Kennedy Center, the ATLAS Theater, THEARC, and Strathmore Music Center. She was inspired to play traditional folk music and jazz when she began contra dancing a few years ago. She now performs regularly with Black Oranges, the Sligo Creek Stompers, and the Bumper Jacksons.

Sarah teaches violin at Levine Music in Washington, DC where she maintains a vibrant studio of students of all ages and levels. Sarah teaches both Traditional and Suzuki methods and has studied pedagogy with Rebecca Henry at the Peabody Institute of Music, Gerald Doan at the Cincinninnati College-Conservatory of Music, Mimi Zweig at Indiana University, Rhonda Cole, and Christie Felsing.

In addition to performing and teaching music, Sarah has been a long time advocate of the Alexander Technique. Like most people who discover this wonderful process, Sarah found it because of an injury. Alexander Technique is a process of coming to understand the mechanics of one’s body and how it moves most efficiently in relation to how we think about movement. Sarah has studied AT with numerous teachers including Karen Guertler, Cynthia Mauney, Jan Baty, and many more.