A curiosity in the cultural background behind the music she plays led Sarah Stone to baroque cello and viola da gamba. Starting March 19th, 2020 Sarah recorded a movement of Bach daily from her NYC apartment as the city sheltered in place, in a solo project that she calls Bach Everyday. “The show is not over… Questlove keeps spinning into the early morning. Sir Patrick Stewart has been reading a Shakespeare sonnet every day. Sarah Stone, who plays cello and viola da gamba, has stuck to her “Bach Everyday” performances from her apartment in New York City. Since March 19, she’s done a Bach Chorale each day.” (Geoff Edgers, The Washington Post, June 10, 2020). Bach Everyday has included all the chorales from the St. John Passion for Easter, a movement from every Bach Cantata in order of BWVs, the 6 parts of the Christmas Oratorio BWV 248 for the holiday season, The Magnificat, Art of the Fugue, Two-Part Inventions, the Sarabandes from the 6 Cello Suites, and for her finale, the B Minor Mass. After over 375 days, her ritual of recording and sharing Bach daily has been featured in the Washington Post, The Greene Space (WNYC) and Early Music America.
In 2019 and 2020, she brought early music into the classroom, playing in New York City and Connecticut public schools through the outreach program of The American Classical Orchestra. Recent seasons have included performances in the Kennedy Center with Opera Lafayette and Vivaldi Double Cello Concerto on tour with Apollo’s Fire. Sarah performs around the country with Seraphic Fire, Washington National Cathedral, Repast Baroque, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, and New York Baroque Incorporated. During the summer months, Sarah is a part of Teatro Nuovo, performing unconducted bel canto operas, and travels to Portland, Maine, where she makes music in unconventional venues as a part of The Portland Bach Experience.
Sarah thinks bringing early music to unexpected places is important; she is an active board member of Bitterroot Baroque, a presenting organization in Hamilton, Montana that brings in period ensembles and musicians to perform and work with locals in early music workshops. In her home-base of Long Island City, Queens, she curates a free monthly series, Communitea Chamber Music.
Sarah holds a Masters in Historical Performance from the Juilliard School, a Masters from San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and a Bachelors of Music from Rice University with studies with Norman Fischer, Jean-Michel Fonteneau, Mara Finkelstein, Elizabeth Reed, Sarah Cunningham, and Phoebe Carrai.