Sarah Sutton ~ Viola 

"The resonant tone and spacious musical shaping of violist [Sarah Sutton] riveted attention..."

                                                           Sun Sentinel

"Sutton's viola, especially, propelled things ....reminding the listener of Mozart's brilliance..."

                                                       Bucks Co. Herald

"Sarah Sutton...held the audience enthralled, deeply moved by the range of emotion and the darkly melancholic timbre of the instrument. It would have been a fitting tribute....if the audience had stood silently following the fading of the last note..."

                                                   Saanen Post, Switzerland

"Principal Violist [Sarah Sutton] consistently demonstrated a smooth and velvety solo line......"

Town Topics

Violist [Sarah Sutton] gave the first movement a unique color, depicting the slow, solemn motion of the clouds"

Town Topics

Biography

Ms Sutton has an international profile as both a performer and teacher.  As a performer she has brought music to some of the most eminent figures in the history of our time.  She has played a command performance for the late Pope John Paul II;  was invited to perform at the State Banquet and Celebrations in honor of Nelson Mandella and Queen Elizabeth II, not to mention performances for Diana, Princess of Wales, The Duchess of York and the Duchess of Kent.  Her playing has been described by the Saanen Post (Switzerland) as "enthralling", captivating audiences with her "range of emotion and the darkly melancholic timbre of the instrument".

Ms Sutton has performed throughout Europe, North and South America.  She has appeared as both soloist and principal violist with the Camerata Lysy Gstaad (Switzerland), and played at many prestigious venues, including the Palais des Beaux Arts (Brussels), Teatro Colon (Buenes Aires), the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Royal Albert Hall and St John's Smith Square (London).  Festivals include solo and chamber performaces at the Summer Music Festival at Blackthorpe Barn (UK), the Menuhin Festival, Alpen Gala, and Verbier Summer Academy (Switzerland), and Tanglewood (USA).  An avid chamber musician, Ms Sutton has collaborated with the Carmina Quartet as Guest Violist in performances as part of the Rencontres Musicales (Switzerland), and has appeared as a soloist in Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, with members of the New World Symphony and Nicholas McGeegan.

As an orchestral player, Ms Sutton has held the Principal Viola position with the New World Symphony (directed by Michael Tilson-Thomas) and was a member of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra.  She has been a guest Sub-Principal with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (UK), participating in the historic EMI recording of Tristan and Isolde with Antonio Pappano and Placido Domingo, and the new production of Das Rheingold, which has been broadcast live on BBC TV and BBC Radio 3. Sarah has been a member of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia(formerly the Concerto Soloists) and also appears as Guest Principal Violist with the Princeton Symphony and guest artist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. 

Born in England, Ms Sutton is a graduate of the Yehudi Menuhin School of Music (UK), where she studied with Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Simon Rowland-Jones, Yuko Inoue and Mauricio Fuks.  She went on to accept a full scholarship at the International Menuhin Music Academy (Switzerland) where her teachers were Johannes Eskaer and Maestro Alberto Lysy.  Ms Sutton went on to study with Alan DeVeritch at  Indiana University, where she was his Assistant.

Ms. Sutton resides in the Philadelphia area with her husband, William Wozniak, and son Edward.  She plays a beautiful viola by Sergio Peresson (anno 1970) named "The Geist".

Upcoming Performances

2012/2013 Season

9/2 Guest artist, 1st Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia 11am.

9/29 Peter Nero & The Philly Pops, 8pm Trenton War Memorial

10/21 Sol0ist: Berlioz Harold in Italy. 8pm The College of New Jersey

12/5  Berlioz Harold In Italy with TCNJ Symphony Orchestra. South Brunswick High School 8pm

12/7 - 12/22 Peter Nero &The Philly Pops, Kimmel Center Philadelphia PA

1/25 & 1/27 Delaware Symphony Orchestra, Grand Opera House, Delaware

2/8-2/11 Peter Nero & The Philly Pops, Kimmel Center Philadelphia PA

2/24 Studio Recital 2:30pm Ardmore Presbyterian Church

3/13 Ardmore Presbyterian Church 7:30pm

3/15-3/17 Peter Nero & The Philly Pops, Kimmel Center Philadelphia PA

3/24 East Coast Premiere of Chason Goldfinger's "Rhapsody for a Forgotten Soul"-Viola solo. 2pm Congregation Ohev Shalom, Wallingford PA

2011/2012 Season

10/1 @ 2:30pm Richards Auditorium, Princeton NJ : Guest Principal Viola, Princeton Symphony Orchestra

10/2 @ 4pm Richards Auditorium Princeton NJ : Guest Principal Viola, Princeton Symphony Orchestra

2/5/2012 The Music Studio of Sarah Sutton ~ Studio Recital 

2/8; 2/10; 2/11; 2/12/2012 Peter Nero and the Philly Pops

2/11/2012 Philadelphia Orchestra/Dutoit

2/18 @6:45pm Brandywine Senior Living ~ Amabile Quartet outreach concert

2/19 @ 3pm Unitarian Church, Princeton NJ ~ Amabile Quartet. Music of Elgar, Bridge and Debussy

2/26 @ 7:30pm 1st Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia ~ Amabile Quartet. Music of Elgar, Bridge and Debussy

3/3 @ 8pm Verizon Hall, The Kimmel Center ~ Philadelphia Orchestra/ Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos

3/21; 3/23-25 Peter Nero and the Philly Pops, Verizon Hall, The Kimmel Center

4/4 @ 7:30pm Ardmore Presbyterian Church, PA

4/11; 4/13-15 Peter Nero and the Philly Pops, Verizon Hall, The Kimmel Center Philadelphia PA

4/22 @ 3pm Richardson Auditiorium, Princeton NJ

4/29 @ 7pm 1st Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia

6/3 : The Music Studio of Sarah Sutton ~ Studio Recital. Venue and time TBD

6/18-30 Center Stage Strings, Three Rivers CA - Artist Faculty

6/19 Faculty Showcase, Three Rivers Presbyterian, CA

6/23 Chamber Music Concert, Three Rivers CA

6/28 Chamber Music Concert, Visalia CA

6/30 Chamber Music Concert, Three Rivers CA.

7/9 @ 7:30pm Sarah joins NYC Ballet concertmaster Kurt Nikkannen and the Luzerne Chamber Players.  Luzerne Music Festival.

7/31 @ 8pm Princeton Chapel, Princeton NJ A wonderful program of British music, including Vaughan Williams"Variations on a Theme of Thomas Tallis. Conducted by Mark Laycock.

 photos: Geoffrey Glass

www.geoffreyglass.com