A native of Columbus, Sarah McKelvie began her musical studies on the violin at the age of five. Her passion for the lush sound of the viola was sparked in high school and it was this instrument that she later received her bachelor and master of music degrees at the Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music and The University of Memphis.
As an undergraduate, Sarah was a member of the Caricato String Quartet as both second violinist and later violist. This chamber group was a semi-finalist at the internationally acclaimed Fishoff Chamber Music Competition in 1995. She was also a fellow at both the Sarasota Chamber Music Festival and the Brevard Music Center in 1995 and 1996. While in graduate school, Sarah was a member of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.
Sarah has been a member of orchestras in Europe including the Esternach Festival orchestra, and served as principal violist in the Lucca Opera Festival Orchestra in 1997. For the past ten years, she has served as principal violist of the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic under the direction of David Bowden.
Sarah has been teaching private and group classes on the violin and viola for over twelve years. She has created rich music programs in schools as well as currently directs the McKelvie String Studio, a vibrant and active private studio.
Sarah enjoys collaborating with her very cool bass playing husband Sean. They can be seen around Columbus and the vicinity at Farmer’s Markets and Street Fairs playing and singing their eclectic mix of jazz, Irish, light classical, and folk melodies. A lover of a great melody, you might even find her singing a classic folk or jazz tune inspired by Allison Krauss, John Denver, Rosemary Clooney, and Joni Mitchell. Drawing from her classical training, she likes to call it “coffee house meets concert stage”. Sarah is also the mother to three active, cute, and imaginative kids; Lydia 12, Patrick 8, and Fiona 4. They keep her pretty busy, but when she does have a little down time, she enjoys anything and everything by Jane Austin, forcing her husband to watch cheesy chick flicks, and watching HGTV while dreaming about home improvement projects she’ll never have time to accomplish.
