Sarah Sung
Australian-Korean violist Sarah Sung joined the DSO as Associate Principal Viola in September of 2023.
Sarah takes music beyond the stages of Carnegie Hall and the Sydney Opera House, traveling globally to diverse and marginalized communities since the age of eight. Together with Timothy Chooi and Drake Driscoll, Sarah is a cofounder of VISION Collective — an initiative that builds meaningful relationships with and among refugees by sharing and exchanging music between diverse communities. In recognition of their work, the VISION Collective was the recipient of the $20,000 McGraw Family Robert Sherman Award for Music Education and Community Outreach in 2020.
Sarah’s passion for chamber music led her to attend prestigious festivals including Music@Menlo, Ravinia Steans Music Institute, Yellow Barn, Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival, Perlman Music Program Chamber Music Workshop and Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music. She has performed alongside distinguished artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Roger Tapping and Vivian Weilerstein. Sarah has been a guest violist with the Jupiter Chamber Players, Minnesota Orchestra and Delirium Chamber Orchestra, and has served as Principal Violist of the Juilliard Orchestra in venues such as Alice Tully Hall and David Geffen Hall.
Sarah is the First Prize winner of the 2023 Musicians Club of Women Competition in Chicago, and winner of the Australian NSW Concerto Competition making her double concerto debut at age 12, with her violist sister, Lisa.
Sarah received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School under the tutelage of Paul Neubauer, Cynthia Phelps and Misha Amory. Prior to joining the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, she had completed her first year of Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Northwestern University. Before moving to the States, Sarah studied with the Principal Viola of Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Tobias Breider.
Sarah performs on a 2005 Douglas C. Cox viola generously on loan from the Ravinia Steans Music Institute.