Sarah Cahill (pianist)

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Sarah Cahill
San Francisco Conservatory
University of Michigan
Occupation(s)Pianist, radio personality
SpouseJohn Sanborn
RelativesJames Cahill (father)

Sarah Cahill (born 1960) is an American pianist based in the Bay Area.[1] She has also worked as a writer on music and as a radio show host.

Early life and education

Born in

Bach’s D major Toccata at the Sommermusikwochen chamber music festival in Trogen, Switzerland.[citation needed
]

Cahill skipped her final year of high school to join the San Francisco Conservatory, where John Adams composed China Gates for her. She finished her academic studies at the University of Michigan, where she continued her musical training with Theodore Lettvin.[citation needed]

Music career

Sarah Cahill has commissioned, premiered and recorded numerous works for solo piano.

George Lewis, Leo Ornstein and many others.[citation needed
]

In late 2008 and 2009 Cahill developed and performed a new project known under two titles, A Sweeter Music, and Notes on the War: The Piano Protests, where she asked composers for piano music on the subject of peace. The second title was printed in The New York Times, but was not Cahill's original title.[4][5] Commissioned composers include Preben Antonsen, Michael Byron, Paul Dresher, Ingram Marshall, Jerome Kitzke, Mamoru Fujieda, Kyle Gann, Peter Garland, Phil Kline, Jerome Kitzke, Meredith Monk, Pauline Oliveros, Yoko Ono, Larry Polansky, Bernice Johnson Reagon, The Residents, Terry Riley, Frederic Rzewski and Carl Stone. In later performances of A Sweeter Music, Cahill's spouse John Sanborn contributed video content to accompany the music, displayed across three screens and synchronized music.[5][6]

Other projects developed by Cahill include Playdate, Bay Area Pianists and Garden of Memory. Playdate is a group of commissioned pieces about childhood combined with classical works; the commission of an evening of new scores for four hands by

Italian music, featuring premieres by Luciano Chessa, Andrea Morricone, and others.[7] She founded the Bay Area Pianists in 1993. In 1996, in association with New Music Bay Area, Cahill created the annual Garden of Memory walk-through concert at the Julia Morgan-designed Chapel of the Chimes wherein audience members move through the environment with new music ensembles performing simultaneously throughout the spaces.[8] In 2003 she co-curated the Berkeley Edge Fest at Cal Performances.[citation needed
]

Cahill investigated the impact early 20th century American modernists had on the composers of her time and explored these influences in concert programs at the Miller Theater at

Tokyo, Japan.[citation needed
]

In December 2021, Cahill performed a seven-hour marathon performance of over seventy pieces by female composers at

BAMPFA, including works she commissioned by Regina Harris Baiocchi, Mary Watkins, and Theresa Wong.[9]

Other work

As a radio personality, Cahill has hosted weekly radio shows on the classical and contemporary music scenes on both KPFA in Berkeley, where her program was cited as "One of the 100 Best Things in the Bay Area" by Citysearch, and on KALW in San Francisco.[citation needed]

Cahill has written music reviews for Gramophone Explorations, Historical Performance, ClassicsToday.com,

Village Voice Literary Supplement, and others.[citation needed
]

Personal life

Cahill is married to the media artist John Sanborn.[10]

Discography

References

  1. ^ Kosman, Joshua. Avant-garde concert melds laptop, traditional piano fare. San Francisco Chronicle. 2008-12-01. Page E11. Accessed: 2008-12-01. (WebCite)
  2. ^ Snap, Martin. Tribute to a teacher: Show honors art historian. Oakland Tribune. 2007-04-27. Accessed: 2008-12-01. (WebCite)
  3. ^ a b Chloe Veltman (2010-06-18). "Sarah Cahill, New Music's Tireless Advocate". New York Times.
  4. ^ Richardson, Derk. Peace Pieces: Sarah Cahill commissions a sweeter music. San Francisco Chronicle, 2009-10-03. Accessed: 2009-10-03. (WebCite)
  5. ^ a b Smith, Steve. Sounds of Peace, Sometimes Drowned Out by the Din of War. The New York Times. 2009-03-16. Page C7, New York edition. Accessed: 2010-04-20.
  6. ^ Kozinn, Allan. When Downtown Comes Uptown. The New York Times. 2008-09-07. Page AR69, New York edition. Accessed: 2008-12-01.
  7. ^ The Petaluma Post. Three Dance Palace Evenings Feature Storytelling And Fun. The Petaluma Post. 2005-01-01. Accessed: 2008-12-01. (WebCite)
  8. ^ Kosman, Joshua. Chapel of the Chimes a natural fit for a musical game of hide-and-seek. San Francisco Chronicle. 2007-06-19. Page D1. Accessed: 2008-12-01. (WebCite)
  9. ^ "Pianist Sarah Cahill Presents In-Person Marathon Performance of The Future is Female at BAMPFA." Jensen Artists. Accessed December 5, 2021.
  10. ^ Marianne Lipanovich. "An Interview With Sarah Cahill". San Francisco Classical Voice. Retrieved 2013-07-26.

External links

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