Sara Neilson

Sara Neilson grew up in Alexandria VA, and began her musical career as a violinist. Though she always wanted to play music for a living, it wasn’t until college that she fell in love with the bass and decided to pursue it professionally. After earning degrees in both Music Education and Music Performance, she received a master’s degree in Bass Performance from DePaul University, where she was runner up in the Concerto Competition. Since graduating, she has taught double bass in a variety of settings around Chicago. Her students have performed at the Obama Foundation, the Aspen Music Festival, and Carnegie Hall, and have been accepted to the Interlochen Arts Academy and ILMEA. She had performed at the Chautauqua Institute, Eastern Music Festival and Brevard Music Festival and has appeared locally with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, the Elgin Symphony Orchestra and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Her teachers include Rob Kassinger, Leonid Finkelshteyn, and Ian Hallas. In her free time, Ms. Neilson enjoys knitting sweaters, doing vinyasa yoga, and spending time with her dog, Olive.