Sarah Cahill has always been surrounded by music. The pianist grew up in Berkeley and said her parents loved classical music. Her father had a great record collection of old 78s, and they would sit and listen to music for hours and go to concerts in the Bay Area.
She even had a little record player in her room as a child and enjoyed listening to Johannes Brahms’s chamber music for hours. She started piano at age six, and when she was eight years old, she met the piano teacher who would change her life.
That piano teacher was Sharon Mann of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She became a very important influence on Cahill.
“She was (and is) charismatic, beautiful and funny. She is a brilliant pianist and teacher who took me seriously as a musician. She is a Johann Sebastian Bach specialist and taught me the “dance” movements of Bach’s English and French Suites. She had me playing concertos with orchestras and entering competitions by the time I was 12. I immersed myself in music because of Sharon.”
CSMA was excited to welcome Sarah back for a free community concert at Tateuchi Hall on June 10. Cahill traced the life cycle of the Chaconne, a musical form originating in the Baroque period, from its origins up to the present.
Her performance included works by Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Georg Friedrich Handel, Henry Purcell, Cecile Chaminade, Carl Nielsen, Stefan Wolpe, Sofia Gubaidulina and San Francisco composer Danny Clay.
Music education offers so many benefits to young people. Cahill saw the benefits firsthand and recalls a time when it was a natural part of the school experience.
“In those days, music was a vital part of public school education,” she said. “ I enrolled in the jazz band at Berkeley High School, where every kid was given an instrument to take home and learn. In grade school, I remember talking about the difference between Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Joseph Haydn. Classical music was part of normal life.”
As with any art form, dedication and consistency is key to progress. It is no different for Cahill who believes that practice is worth every minute an artist invests. The renowned pianist practices daily starting at 9:00 am and then throughout the day as inspiration strikes, she told CSMA.
“I love to practice, although I didn’t always like to practice the piano when I was growing up. I love the physicality of it, the hours spent problem-solving, getting deeper into a piece of music and feeling progress day by day. It’s a wonderful daily ritual!”
What’s her advice for aspiring musicians? It’s simple and starts with learning all you can as an artist. Cahill says:
“Absorb as much as you can, whether it’s sight-reading through Johann Sebastian Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier or reading biographies of your favorite composers. Learn from listening to the great musicians of the past and present. Find a teacher who respects and understands you, and who will motivate you. But most of all, find your passion which will guide you through your life.”
Listeners can tune in to Cahill’s radio show, “Revolutions Per Minute” on KALW, 91.7 in San Francisco. It can be heard every Sunday evening from 8 to 10 pm. Cahill also serves on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory and is a regular pre-concert speaker with the San Francisco Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
By TaLeiza Calloway-Appleton
Note: CSMA interviewed Sarah Cahill in 2021.
