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“Mahler’s 5th Symphony places huge demands on the brass players, and every member of that section demonstrated extraordinary puissance, showing no signs of fatigue. Sarah Viens — Oregon’s own Wonder Woman of the trumpet — astonished listeners with her brilliant sound and unfailing mettle from beginning to end.”

Register Guard, 2018

Sarah Viens is Principal Trumpet of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra and Symphony Tacoma, and is an active performer in the Pacific Northwest. Sarah frequently performs with the Seattle Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Auburn Symphony, Oregon Ballet Theater, and the Seattle and Portland Operas. She is Second Trumpet with the Sunriver Music Festival, and has performed with the Britt Festival Orchestra, Chamber Music Northwest, and the Oregon Bach Festival.

Sarah has performed at the 5th Avenue Theater in Seattle and also with various chamber and recording ensembles, broadway shows, jazz ensembles, alternative, funk and rock bands, and has performed with the Oregon Bach Collegium as a cornetto and recorder soloist.

Sarah is co-founder, general manager, and principal trumpet of Orchestra Next- the resident orchestra with the Eugene Ballet Company. Sarah is a widely sought after teacher, has fifteen years of experience in higher education and has previously taught at the University of Oregon and Willamette University. 

Sarah has extensive experience serving in the role of principal trumpet. She previously served as Principal Trumpet with the Newport Symphony and Salem Chamber Orchestra and has performed as guest Principal Trumpet with the Seattle Symphony, Oregon Bach Festival, Britt Festival, Kaleidoscope (L.A.), Oregon Ballet Theater, Portland Opera, Oregon Mozart Players, Eugene Opera, Sunriver Music Festival, 45th Parallel, Astoria Music Festival, Yakima Symphony, Chintimini Music Festival, Portland Summerfest Opera, Corvallis Symphony, and assistant Principal Trumpet with the Oregon Symphony. Sarah has performed as principal trumpet with esteemed conductors such as John Williams, Marin Alsop, Helmuth Rilling, Giancarlo Guerrero, Carlos Kalmar, Teddy Abrahms, and Miguel Harth-Bedoya. 

Sarah has performed with various chamber ensembles, broadway shows, jazz ensembles, alternative, funk and rock bands. Sarah has experience in Historically Informed Performance and has performed with the Oregon Bach Collegium as a cornetto and recorder soloist. Sarah studied Historically Informed Performance with members of Piffaro, The Renaissance Ensemble at Temple University in Philadelphia. 

Under the Innova record label, she served as principal trumpet, producer, and manager for Kenji Bunch’s The Snow Queen, a full-length ballet co-commissioned by Orchestra Next and Eugene Ballet. Under Cantaloupe, you can hear her alongside trumpeter Joshua Silva, on the track titled Involuntary, for David Lang and Molly Barth’s album titled Thorn. She was a featured musician in Oregon Art Beat’s 2011 documentary titled “Marin Alsop returns to the Eugene Symphony”. 

As co-founder of Orchestra Next- the resident orchestra with the Eugene Ballet Company, Sarah was involved with its initial concept to its full incorporation. As the Artistic Administrator, she serves as its librarian, personnel manager, operations manager, and oversees annual auditions for student members. Sarah also serves as an ex-officio board member for Orchestra Next. 

Sarah holds trumpet performance degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, B.M., Temple University, M.M., and the University of Oregon, A.B.D. Sarah was a student of Michael Sachs, James Darling, Brian McWhorter, Jeffrey Curnow, David Bilger, Rick Pressley, and John Falskow. Sarah performed in masterclasses for Mark Gould, Kevin Cobb, Bernard Adelstein, Christopher Martin, David Zauder, Dale Clevenger, Wayne DuMaine, Bob Earley, Jay Friedman, Bob Sullivan, Russell Campbell, Larry Knopp, Jon Nelson, and the American Brass Quintet.

Sarah is a member of the International Guild of Symphony, Theater, Opera, and Ballet Musicians.  She is a Selmer-Bach performing artist, a member of the International Trumpet Guild, and the International Women’s Brass Conference

“Dutilleux’s Second Symphony is incisive yet wildly colorful, and Mr. Morlot and the Seattle [Symphony] players did it justice on all counts.”

The New York Times   

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