Biography
Sarah Cunningham ranks among the most renowned viola da gamba performers worldwide, maintaining an active schedule of concerts and teaching across Europe alongside her American homeland. Her extensive discography stretches back to the early 1980s.
Born December 2, 1951, in Exeter, New Hampshire, she first took up the viols in Boston during 1969, a period when the instruments remained uncommon throughout the United States. That same year she entered Harvard, then pursued studies from 1970 to 1972 at the Longy School of Music at Harvard under Gian Lyman Silbiger. She later continued her training at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague, Netherlands, with Wieland Kuijken, while also working on Baroque cello with Wouter Moller and modern cello with Hermann Busch of the Busch Quartet. Throughout much of the 1970s she worked as a freelance performer and instructor in the Boston region, and she sustained similar work after relocating to London in 1981. She acquired dual citizenship upon becoming a naturalized United Kingdom citizen in 1999.
Her career encompasses both solo appearances and ensemble roles. Beginning in 1973 she performed with ensembles such as the Boston Camerata and Banchetto Musicale. In 1982 she established the group Sonnerie together with violinist Monica Huggett and remained involved with it and related projects for several years. Starting that same year she joined major European ensembles as a guest artist, including Hesperion XX, Fretwork, and Phantasm. Her first recording credit arrived in 1985 on the Les Eléments album Dramatic Laments. She has presented solo recitals along the U.S. East Coast, in Montreal, London, and numerous additional European cities. Between 1990 and 2000 she held the position of professor of viola da gamba at the Akademie für Alte Musik, later known as the Hochschule für Künste, in Bremen. After moving to Ireland in 1999 she launched the East Cork Early Music Festival in 2003 and served for several years as its artistic director. Since returning to the United States she has served as an adjunct faculty member at the Juilliard School in Manhattan beginning in 2010 and has also taught at Princeton University. She appears on more than 45 recordings and has released several solo albums, among them a 2021 collection of Bach’s sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord on the Avie label with Richard Egarr.
Born December 2, 1951, in Exeter, New Hampshire, she first took up the viols in Boston during 1969, a period when the instruments remained uncommon throughout the United States. That same year she entered Harvard, then pursued studies from 1970 to 1972 at the Longy School of Music at Harvard under Gian Lyman Silbiger. She later continued her training at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague, Netherlands, with Wieland Kuijken, while also working on Baroque cello with Wouter Moller and modern cello with Hermann Busch of the Busch Quartet. Throughout much of the 1970s she worked as a freelance performer and instructor in the Boston region, and she sustained similar work after relocating to London in 1981. She acquired dual citizenship upon becoming a naturalized United Kingdom citizen in 1999.
Her career encompasses both solo appearances and ensemble roles. Beginning in 1973 she performed with ensembles such as the Boston Camerata and Banchetto Musicale. In 1982 she established the group Sonnerie together with violinist Monica Huggett and remained involved with it and related projects for several years. Starting that same year she joined major European ensembles as a guest artist, including Hesperion XX, Fretwork, and Phantasm. Her first recording credit arrived in 1985 on the Les Eléments album Dramatic Laments. She has presented solo recitals along the U.S. East Coast, in Montreal, London, and numerous additional European cities. Between 1990 and 2000 she held the position of professor of viola da gamba at the Akademie für Alte Musik, later known as the Hochschule für Künste, in Bremen. After moving to Ireland in 1999 she launched the East Cork Early Music Festival in 2003 and served for several years as its artistic director. Since returning to the United States she has served as an adjunct faculty member at the Juilliard School in Manhattan beginning in 2010 and has also taught at Princeton University. She appears on more than 45 recordings and has released several solo albums, among them a 2021 collection of Bach’s sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord on the Avie label with Richard Egarr.
Albums
