Sarah L Gillespie

• Doctor of Musical Arts, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Master of Music, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Music Education, Louisiana State University

Dr. Sarah L. Gillespie is Instructor of Horn and Lecturer of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Called “a wild woman on the horn” by Imani Winds founding member Valarie Coleman, Sarah is an active performer in southern Wisconsin and eastern Iowa. She is third horn of the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra and substitutes regularly with the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra, Madison Symphony Orchestra, and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. Chamber music is Sarah’s favorite genre of music to perform, and she performs regularly with Pentissimo Woodwind Quintet, Third Lake Brass Quintet, and the Underground Chamber Collective, a group of winds and strings committed to performing large chamber works like Beethoven’s Septet and Schubert’s Octet. Sarah, an advocate for women composers, has premiered works by women at the National Women’s Music Festival, the LunART Festival, and the International Women in Brass Conference.

In addition to teaching the horn students at UW-Platteville, Sarah hosts a private studio of students aged 9-90. With studio teaching experience going back to 2005, she is a sought-after clinician for middle and high school students. She is the brass sectional coach for the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras and has conducted and performed at the yearly Horn Festival at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Sarah co-taught the High Brass Techniques class at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and presented at the Beyond the Notes Pedagogy Webinar in 2020. She is a member of the International Horn Society and has performed at the IHS Summer Symposiums. She is an alumna of Sigma Alpha Iota, International Music Fraternity.

Sarah holds a doctoral minor in vocal performance. She performs as an alto section leader at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church and is a cantor and soloist at three parishes throughout the Catholic Diocese of Madison. When she is not performing, Sarah might be found hiking with her husband, a proud UW-Platteville alumni, or biking around Madison’s beautiful lakes.

In the department of Performing and Visual Arts, Sarah teaches the French horn studio lessons, horn studio class and horn choir, Music History and Literature I and II, World Music Survey, High Brass Techniques, and Music Appreciation at UW-Platteville.

She received her Doctorate of Musical Arts and Masters in Horn Performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her Bachelor of Horn Performance and Music Education degrees from Louisiana State University. She believes that music education is for everyone and for life.