Sarah Wallin Huff

BIO

Violinist/Violist and Composer Sarah Wallin Huff has been playing the violin since 1990. She has also performed on Baroque violin and viola with the ensemble “Collegium Musicum,” and has been a regular performer on six-string electric violin since 2003. She toured from 1999 to 2002 as a musician across the continental U.S. and eleven European countries, as well as holding the position of Assistant Director during her final tour. She has performed as a regular member of the Orange County Symphony, performed as Concertmaster of the Southern California Philharmonic, is currently the concertmaster for the Santa Clarita Philharmonic, and performs with other numerous orchestras and diverse ensembles. She regularly performs as a soloist for a variety of events and concerts, as well as participating on electric and acoustic violin and viola on various recording projects.

Two past performance highlights include: 1) Creating a solo violin arrangement of Hermann’s Shower Scene Music from “Psycho” and performing it on camera as the featured violinist for the 2013 art film “Psycho Nacirema,” created by and starring James Franco, on the set of the Bates Motel, Universal Studios, Hollywood; and 2) Composing original string trio parts to accompany two songs by DJ Deorro for his performances at Coachella in April 2015, personally recording all three parts in studio for use in the performance, hiring the stage musician-performers needed for the two Coachella events, and choreographing the stage performers’ work for the shows.

Having received her MA in Music Composition at Claremont Graduate University in 2008, from 2012-2016 Wallin Huff was the Professor of Composition and Advanced Theory (as well as conducting the Chamber Ensemble for three years) at The Master’s College in Santa Clarita. Sarah’s compositions have been performed throughout the States and abroad, including the Zipper Hall in Los Angeles and the Exeter Phoenix Auditorium in Devon, England. 

Her work is featured on Navona Records’ “SOUL OF THE MACHINE,” a full album of her original music that explores the relationships between mechanical structures, organic beauty, and identity. The recording of her violin trio, “Counterpoint Invariable,” found on this album, appeared on the First Round Ballot for the 2015 Grammys for the category of Best Small Ensemble Performance. In addition to her previous collaborations for film and theater, Sarah composed and recorded a fifty-minute-long album of “Musical Response” works, in collaboration with author Jorge Armenteros for the release of his novel, THE BOOK OF I, in November 2014. 

Her compositions range from solo works to chamber ensembles, to orchestral concert pieces. While her sonic output crosses a variety of moods and styles, a common thread linking them all is what she calls “stream-of-consciousness composition,” in which every piece is built upon an enigmatic, underlying framework, from which the work fluidly evolves.

Contact Sarah Wallin Huff via email.

Experience

• Violin/Theory/Composition Instruction (students aged from 2-62) –  since 1998
• Performing – since 1990
• Composing – since 1993
• Writing – since 1994

Education

• Cal State Polytechnic University Pomona– Music Education B.A. (2006)
• Claremont Graduate University– Music Composition M.A. (2008)
• Specialized training in Suzuki and Kodaly methods of Music Education

Honors

• 2017: Named as Semi-Finalist in Symphony No. 1’s fourth Call for Scores 
• 2016: “Memories & The Gray” winner of the May 2016 Akademia Awards for Best EP (Ambient/Instrumental)
• 2016: “Sonata Moderna” winner of the May 2016 Akademia Awards for Best Song (Ambient/Instrumental)
• 2016: “Sonata Moderna” named official nominee for the April 2016 Akademia Awards.
• 2015: “Fair Katrinelje and Pif-Paf-Poltrie” selected for inclusion on newchambermusic.org “….only about 15% of scores were accepted.”
• 2014: “Counterpoint Invariable” selected and nominated by PARMA Recordings for the 2015 Grammy Awards category of Best Small Ensemble Performance. Accepted by the NARAS to appear on the Grammy First Round Ballot.
• 2003: BMI John Lennon Songwriting Contest, State Finalist for “Face in the Moonlight.”
• 1993: Finalist in the Disneyland Creativity Challenge, for Sarah’s first “formal” composition, “Morning Light” for intermediate choir and piano.

Professional Affiliations

• ASCAP

Repertoire

• See a list of my original compositions and arrangements!
• See Quotes and Comments from others, regarding Sarah’s composing and teaching.

Explore all my available Sheet Music, Recordings, and Books!

I am equipped and experienced in providing numerous services to meet your unique needs.

For all my Performance, Recording, and Composing Offerings, please visit Novel Soundtrax…

Teaching:

• Private lessons, lectures, rehearsal clinics/sectionals, group and master classes, etc. Ages as young as 2 years old to 92. All levels of experience, from brand-new beginner to advanced. I can teach via any of these scenarios in the following educational subjects:
  • Violin technique: repertoire, performance, historically informed interpretation and practice, etc. If the student is well-established in basic technique, I am also happy to teach genre-specific technique (e.g., country, Celtic, jazz, rock, improvisation, early music practice, etc…)
  • Music Theory: common practice era, modal and tonal counterpoint, 20th century analysis (including Pitch Class Set Theory), arranging, orchestration/instrumentation, music history, etc.
  • Composition: studying and honing the art of writing music and finding “your voice.” From introductory levels to advanced.

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