Sara Caswell Image

Emma Mead

Sara Caswell

Associate Professor
Affiliated Departments
Strings
scaswell@berklee.edu
Telephone
617-747-6530
Personal Websites
Sara Caswell's Website

For media inquiries, please contact Media Relations

Sara Caswell is recognized as one of today’s foremost jazz violinists, celebrated for her lyricism and technical facility. A Grammy nominee, Caswell has been featured in DownBeat's critics and readers polls annually since 2013. Her artistry and unique sound prompted internationally renowned jazz educator David Baker to write, “Sara Caswell is a brilliant, world-class violinist . . . one of the very best of the present generation of emerging young jazz stars.”

Caswell has released three highly acclaimed albums under her own name, with the most recent being The Way to You (2023, Anzic Records). She has performed at prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall, the Village Vanguard, Birdland Jazz Club, Jazz at Lincoln Center, SFJAZZ, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Barbican Centre, and Blue Note (NYC and Tokyo). Her talents have also been showcased at numerous jazz festivals such as Newport, Montreal, Montreux, North Sea, Banlieues Bleues, and Saratoga Springs.

Career Highlights
  • Leader of the Sara Caswell Quartet
  • Member of Joe Brent's 9 Horses, Chuck Owen and the Jazz Surge, Emilio Solla's Y La Inestable de Brooklyn, Brian Carpenter's Ghost Train Orchestra, and the New York Pops
  • Performed/recorded with esperanza spalding, Brad Mehldau, Brian Blade, John Patitucci, Linda May Han Oh, WDR Big Band, Donny McCaslin, Kishi Bashi, David Byrne, and Bruce Springsteen, among others
Awards
  • Grammy nominee for Best Improvised Jazz Solo (“Can't Remember Why” from Whispers on the Wind by Chuck Owen and the Jazz Surge), 2017
  • Nominee for Strings Player of the Year at the Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards, 2023
Education
  • Manhattan School of Music
    New York
    Master of Music (MM)
    Jazz Performance
  • Indiana University-Bloomington
    Indiana
    Artist Diploma (AD)
    Music
  • Indiana University-Bloomington
    Indiana
    Bachelor of Music (BM)
    Music
In Their Own Words

As a violinist with a foundation in the classical and jazz traditions, my teaching philosophy is built around three objectives: first, giving students a technical grounding that will assist in their musical journey; next, exploring jazz improvisation as one would a spoken language, through immersion, imitation, absorption, and innovation; and last, giving students the skills to be lifelong learners, performers, collaborators, and teachers.

As a musician whose career is based largely on collaborations, performing, recording, and touring, I feel it essential to bring these experiences into the classroom. Although young musicians must follow their own path, I hope I can be a resource to them through the lessons I've learned, just as my musical mentors have been to me.