Dr. Sarah Hetrick(she/her) is a saxophonist and educator based in Northwest Arkansas. Sarah currently serves as the Assistant Professor of Saxophone at the University of Arkansas where she teaches applied saxophone and chamber music. Sarah enjoys maintaining an active performing career as a solo and chamber musician and has been invited to teach and perform at schools and universities throughout the United States, including the University of Iowa, Duquesne University, Colorado State University, Youngstown State University, The University of Texas San Antonio, and others. Sarah performs frequently with her duo partner Dr. Jooyeon Chang, and the award-winning Khroma Quartet. Sarah is a regular performer and presenter at both national and international conferences, including the Navy Band International Saxophone Symposium, the National Association for College Wind and Percussion Instructors Conference, the North American Saxophone Alliance Conferences, and more.
A dedicated advocate and performer of new music, Sarah has commissioned over twenty works for the saxophone and worked with composers Viet Cuong, Susanna Hancock, Kimberly Osberg, Alexandra Gardner, Tonia Ko, José Martínez, Shelley Washington, Alexis Bacon, and more. Sarah has played in the Fusebox Festival, the Black House Collective, Fast Forward Austin’s concert series, the Beerthoven Concert Series, and Tetractys’ multidisciplinary collaboration, NetWork.
Sarah's research covers topics related to the sexualization of the saxophone, the saxophone in media, and the effects of both on students of the saxophone. Sarah has lectured throughout the United States on her paper, “He puts the pep in the party”: Gender and the Saxophone in Early-Twentieth-Century American Advertisements. In addition, Sarah created an online catalog of works for saxophone in an effort to provide a public resource for saxophonists world-wide. As director of the Elise Hall Competition for Emerging Saxophonists, a national competition for young gender expansive and female identifying saxophonists, Sarah oversees the commission, operations, and development of the initiative.
Sarah holds both a Master of Music degree and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Saxophone Performance from The University of Texas at Austin, where she was both a University Fellow and the Saxophone Teaching Assistant. Prior to graduate study, Sarah graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Music Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Sarah is a recipient of the Rainwater Grant for Innovation in Music, the Presser Award, the PEO Scholar Award, and UT’s prestigious University Fellowship. She has completed additional study at Université Européene de Saxophone in Gap, France and her primary teachers are Dr. Keith Young and Dr. Stephen C. Page. Hetrick previously served as Assistant Professor of Music at Texas A&M International University, where she taught applied saxophone and woodwind methods.
Sarah is an endorsing artist for Rousseau Mouthpieces, performing exclusively on the Rousseau Classic NC Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece. Sarah plays a Yamaha Custom EX II Alto Saxophone, a Yamaha Custom EX Soprano Saxophone, and her reeds of choice are D'Addario Reserve.
