About Us

Sara D'Sa, Owner of Stirling Strings

 

SARA STEVENSON D’SA grew up in a musically rich environment, with her parents as first teachers. She participated in church choirs, NJ Youth Symphony orchestras, NJ Region and All State Orchestras, Trinity College music examinations and New Jersey Federation of Music Club’s piano festivals throughout her childhood and teen years and studied violin extensively at summer music festivals, including Interlochen Arts Camp and Point Counterpoint Chamber Music Camp.  Musicians she has studied with include Todd Phillips, Matthew Reichert, Neil E. Weintrob, Nancy Roth, Barbara Sturgis-Everett, Victoria Peterson and Julie Stevenson. 

 

She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University where she graduated with academic honors.  Sara was a recipient of the Waksman Scholarship for Musical Performance, the Raymond E. Cray Scholarship for High Academic Achievement and the Douglass College Performance Music Award.  During her time at Mason Gross, Sara was selected to perform as violin soloist with the Kirkpatrick choir and to serve as concertmaster of a chamber orchestra.  She was also chosen to record the world premier of a composition written for string quartet by student composer, Vincent Mateescu.  In addition to performing in the Rutgers University Orchestra under the direction of Kynan Johns throughout her years at Mason Gross, Sara also played in the pit orchestra for all of the Rutgers opera performances.  Sara studied and performed a wide variety of chamber music during her undergraduate years and was coached by many faculty members including Jonathan Spitz, Judith Nicosia, Elizabeth Chang and Stephen Miahky.  

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Throughout her career as a freelance violinist, Sara has performed at numerous venues and events in the tri-state area as violin soloist and chamber musician, including church services and Catholic masses, weddings, funerals, violin recitals, vocal recitals, and concerts including two performances of the Faure Requiem in recent years.  She performed Vivaldi's "Concerto for Three Violins" as a soloist with the Baroque Orchestra of NJ (BONJ).  She is currently an active performer with the BONJ, the Adelphi Orchestra and the Livingston Symphony  and is affiliated with the Orchestra of Saint Peter by the Sea and Orchestra 360.  Sara was a founding member of the Evergreen Violin Trio, an ensemble that has had the opportunity to premier works by Robert Butts and Massimo Malavasi.  She has also collaborated with other musicians on recording projects including 2006  “A Stevenson Family Christmas” CD on violin, piano and voice, videos of "Falling Slowly" from the musical ONCE and "Tonight I Wanna Cry," both with Jerry Castaldo, virtual concerts with the Evergreen Violin Trio for BONJ virtual concert series' and MACA holiday festival, and chamber orchestra recordings of compositions by Alex Craven in 2022-23.  In addition, Sara is first violinist of the Bridge Quartet, a recreational ensemble that celebrates classical music by reading and familiarizing themselves with many great chamber works.  Sara has also recently begun playing with the NJ chapter of Classical Revolution and the Simply Strings string ensembles.  

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Sara has completed Suzuki violin teacher training programs at Ithaca College Suzuki Institutes.  She has taught string orchestra in NJ public schools, as well as private violin and piano lessons in her own studio.  She resides in Long Hill Township, NJ with her husband and two sons, and with the pandemic as a catalyst has spent two recent years homeschooling her children.  She enjoys reading, writing, and connecting with friends in her spare time.