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Faculty

Sara Langmead

A Minnesota native, Dr. Sara Langmead made her orchestral debut at age 16 with the 3M Symphony Orchestra. She won first prizes in the MN Schubert Club and UW-Madison Concerto competitions at the collegiate level, studied with György Sebők for two summers at the Banff Centre, and in 1997 won first prize at the international SAI Competition. Dr. Langmead earned her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University where she studied piano for seven years with Yoheved Kaplinsky (current chair of the Juilliard Piano Department). Dr. Langmead taught piano at St. Mary’s College-MD, the University of Missouri-Columbia, and at Mercyhurst University-PA as Assistant Professor of Piano and Piano Department Director. Returning to Minnesota in 2004, Dr. Langmead built and operated a successful piano studio in Circle Pines.  

Dr. Langmead joined the Executive Board of the Minnesota Music Teachers Association in 2020 and currently serves on the Piano Education, Piano Contest, and Diversity/Equity/Inclusion committees. She regularly presents clinics and workshops for teachers regarding piano technique, musical gesture, gender representation in piano literature, four-hand music by female composers, and Women Play Beethoven!, her lecture-recital highlighting the legacy and phenomenon of women who have recorded the complete piano sonata cycle of Beethoven. At the local and national level, Dr. Langmead performs as a piano soloist and chamber musician; this summer will mark her third year as artist-in-resident for the St. Paul based Tiny Porch Concert Series. 

Dr. Langmead specializes in teaching students the widely sought-after technique of her conservatory training. Her students benefit from a personable acumen accumulated while mentoring students of all ages and levels over a thirty-year career. She enriches the lives of her students and listeners by communicating passionate, creative, and academic insight through enthusiastic teaching, performance, studio class, adjudication, writing, and discussion.

I respect and recognize that each student is gifted with a personal trajectory filled with issues that are indelibly intertwined with their musical future. I listen, observe, absorb, and revel in the complexity of a student’s musical spirit; I discern and decide how I can best shape their musical progress alongside their personal goals and dreams. Looking forward, positively, in a productive and healthy mentoring relationship is crucial in the development of all music students.” 

Person wearing a blue scarf and playing the piano
Person wearing a green scarf and playing the piano
Person wearing a blue scarf and playing the piano

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