Sarah Switzer

Violist Sarah Switzer joined the Minnesota Orchestra in the fall of 2022 after earning her masters’ degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University as a student of Ivo-Jan van der Werff. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in the History of Art from Yale University, where she studied with Wendy Sharp. Her undergraduate thesis, on French medieval manuscript illumination, earned her the A. Conger Goodyear Fine Arts Award in 2019. 

Switzer has attended the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, Grand Teton Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, and the Tanglewood Music Center, where she served as a New Fromm fellow, focusing on the performance and recording of contemporary classical music. 

A native of Denver, Colorado, Switzer began her musical studies on violin under the tutelage of James and Jacqueline Maurer.