ABOUT

Currently a freelance performer and educator located in the Athens, GA area, Sarah DelBene is a new DMA student at the University of Georgia studying under Professor Angela Jones-Reus. Sarah's budding flute studio, both independently and through the UGA Community Music School, is open to a diverse cross section of flute students of all ages and ability levels. Flute pedagogy, as she sees it, is her way to give back to the music community and to cultivate a love of music in others. Her pedagogical approach emphasizes strong technique, refined sound development, contextual music theory and music history knowledge, and a heightened total body awareness while playing as the foundation for confident and free music making. As a trainee in the Association for Body Mapping Education (ABME), she aims to incorporate aspects of the Body Mapping practice into her flute pedagogy to unlock every student's full musical freedom and potential.

 

Seeking to explore the diverse possibilites of music, she is at home in a variety of solo, chamber, and large ensemble settings. Sarah has been the flutist in Beracco Winds (the Graduate Wind Quintet at Baylor University), and was an active member in the the Baylor Wind Ensemble. She has been a substitute musician for the Waco Symphony Orchestra, and worked in other orchestras like the Baylor Symphony Orchestra (four time winner of the American Prize for Orchestra Performance) and the Bryan Symphony Orchestra. Beyond these performance settings, she enjoys performing in a variety of mixed chamber groups.

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Sarah has collaborated with groups like Sandbox percussion, The United States Navy Band, The United States Air Force Band, and Cookeville Mastersingers. She has been in televised events such as A Baylor Christmas and Cookeville Mastersinger's Jubilate Deo, the former which has been broadcast to over 19 states and has received over 22,000 YouTube views. She has been a substitute musician for the Waco Symphony Orchestra and was also a recipient of the Captain Anderson Memorial Scholarship for her work in the Bryan Symphony Orchestra. During her undergraduate degree, Sarah was named second prize winner in the Joan Derryberry Memorial Concerto Competition for her performance of Concerto for flute and Orchestra by: Jacques Ibert. While completing her master’s degree, she also secured second place in the 2020 Maverick Flute Soloist competition at the University of Texas at Arlington for her performance of Sequenza I by: Luciano Berio.

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Looking to expand her musical experiences, Sarah performed in masterclasses for heralded flute pedagogues including Carol Wincenc, Leone Buyse, Susan Milan, William Bennett, and Göran Marcusson. She also spent extensive time studying with Dr. Lea Pearson in her course Play Your Way Out of Pain as a means to develop body awareness and performance freedom through the Body Mapping practice taught by Licensed Body Mapping Educators. 

 

Sarah earned a Master of Music in Flute Performance from Baylor University while holding the Flute Studio Graduate Teaching Assistantship, and she received a Bachelor of Music in Performance from Tennessee Technological University. Her primary teachers include Angela Jones-Reus, Charlotte Daniel, Roger Martin, Sue Swilley, and Lea Pearson.