Sarah Off

Dr. Sarah Off is an accomplished performer, educator, and arts entrepreneur who serves as Associate Professor of Violin and Music Business and Director of the Center for Arts Entrepreneurship at the University of Northern Colorado. Recognized for her dynamic artistry and innovative leadership, her performances have been praised as “rapturous” by The Times, “brilliant and seamless with great focus” by the Arizona State Press, and “intuitively talented” by The Bridge Initiative.

An active soloist and chamber musician, Dr. Off has performed extensively throughout the United States and internationally at venues and festivals including the Harpa International Music Festival, Lauderdale House, the Crested Butte Music Festival, the OME New Music Festival, and DiMenna Center for Classical Music. She has appeared as a soloist with ensembles including the Boulder Symphony, Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Colorado Music in the Mountains Conservatory Chamber Orchestra. Her collaborative work spans a wide range of artistic disciplines and genres, and she has shared the stage and studio with artists and organizations such as Leslie Odom Jr., Wu-Tang Clan, Ben Folds, Trevor Hall, the Orion String Quartet, Gao Hong, Andrea Bocelli, and Carmen Bradford.

Her recent world premiere performance of Dylan Fixmer’s Concerto for Violin was featured in The Times (London), on Radio Classique (Paris), and on Colorado Public Radio’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
Sarah values collaboration and innovation in the music industry and has established herself as both an advocate for and catalyst of new musical and artistic endeavors, including numerous cross-disciplinary projects. She has worked with organizations such as the American Composers Alliance and the Arizona Contemporary Music Ensemble and has commissioned and performed numerous new works by composers including Mari Isabel Valverde, Paul Elwood, Dylan Fixmer, Kohei Kondo, and Elizabeth Kennedy Bayer. In 2022, she released an album featuring a collection of solo violin works by Dylan Fixmer.

She performs as the violinist of Old Machines Duo alongside cellist Mathieu D’Ordine, with whom she has collaborated for more than fifteen years. Old Machines Duo specializes in the interpretation of new music and lesser-known works for violin and cello while maintaining a deep appreciation for traditional duo repertoire. Other collaborations include composing and performing original scores for the Tempe Center for the Arts production of Neil LaBute’s Some Velvet Morning and The Bridge Initiative Theater’s production of Dear Elizabeth during her time as violinist with violin/marimba ensemble, Tandem Duo. She also performs regularly with the Colorado Symphony at Boettcher Hall and Red Rocks Amphitheatre as a substitute violin.

Sarah has combined her love of performance with her passion and expertise in music business and arts entrepreneurship. A sought-after lecturer and clinician, she has recently presented for the Society for Arts Entrepreneurship Education, the International Ultimate Music Business Summit, the College Music Society, the American String Teachers Association National Conference, the Women in Jazz National Festival, and the Colorado Music Educators Association Conference. She has also served as a guest lecturer at universities around the world, including a recent residency at the MTU Cork School of Music in Ireland.

As an educator, Sarah strives to provide students with a strong foundation in instrumental performance and musicianship, balanced with expertise in entrepreneurship and business. She believes that creativity, advocacy, business acumen, and community engagement are vital to the sustainability and advancement of the arts in today’s evolving industry. In 2022, she served on the Society for Arts Entrepreneurship Education Student Learning Outcomes Committee at the invitation of Dr. Gary Beckman and currently serves as a Faculty Mentor for David Cutler’s Savvy Innovation Challenge. She frequently reviews new publications, including How to Make It in the New Music Business (3rd Edition) by Ari Herstand, published by Highbridge Publishing; Classical and Romantic Performing Practice (2nd Edition) by Clive Brown, published by Oxford University Press; and Entertainment Law: Fundamentals and Practice by Corey Field, published by Cognella Publishing.

Having grown up in the rural Colorado town of Del Norte, Sarah is deeply committed to expanding access to the arts in rural communities. She is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the nonprofit Mt. Blanca Music Fine Arts Association, a 501(c)(3) organization that brings music education and performance opportunities to students throughout Southern Colorado and the western United States through concert series, masterclasses, workshops, and scholarship programs.

Sarah received her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Colorado Boulder, where she studied with Judith Ingolfsson and Lina Bahn, and her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from Arizona State University, where she studied with Danwen Jiang. Her doctoral studies culminated in a dissertation titled “Building Musical Communities in Rural Areas”.

Sarah lives in Colorado and enjoys hiking in the Rocky Mountains with her husband, composer Dylan Fixmer.

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