Dr. Sarah Crocker
Visiting Professor of Harp
skcrocke@sewanee.edu
Harpist, musicologist, and small business owner Dr. Sarah K. Crocker can be seen performing, teaching, and lecturing across the United States and abroad. In addition to her position as Visiting Professor of Harp at Sewanee, Dr. Crocker serves as Adjunct Professor of Harp at Belmont University, Middle Tennessee State University, and Lipscomb University and is the Owner and Founder of Hillnote Music and the Hillnote Harp Academy in Franklin, TN. Previous teaching positions include Professor of Musicology and Ethnomusicology at Kentucky Institute for International Studies (Buenos Aires, Argentina), TN Governor’s School for the Arts harp faculty, and Instructor of Ethnomusicology and Secondary Harp at The University of Alabama. Sarah has served on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the American Harp Society, Inc. as the Regional Director Coordinator and Southern Regional Director, on the Editorial Board of The American Harp Journal, and as the President (2014-2019), Vice President and Webmaster (2019-present) of the Nashville Chapter of the American Harp Society.
Dr. Crocker is principal harp of the Tennessee Philharmonic Orchestra (2013-present) and the North Mississippi Symphony Orchestra (2006-present), where she made her debut as a soloist performing Debussy’s Danses. She was recently featured as a soloist on Ravel's Introduction and Allegro with the faculty of the TN Governor’s School for the Arts. Crocker also performs regularly as substitute principal harp with many orchestras and wind ensembles across the Southeast, including the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Kentucky, Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra, Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, Albany Symphony Orchestra (GA), Nashville Wind Ensemble, and she was principal harp of the Meridian Symphony Orchestra (MS) from 2005-2013 until moving to TN. Sarah is also in demand as harpist for numerous regional wind ensembles and concert bands, choirs, churches, and performs and coordinates customized music for events as the Owner of Hillnote Weddings & Events.
Having a love for chamber music, Crocker regularly performs with a variety of musicians and choirs across Middle Tennessee and beyond. Sarah collaborates often as a flute and harp duo, having given recitals and specially curated multi-media concerts at many universities, churches, weddings, and concert venues. While attending the University of Alabama, Crocker founded the Druid City Ensemble with flutist Dr. Whitney O'Neal and soprano Dr. Dawn Neely. Hailed as "truly inspiring," the ensemble was honored to appear as featured performers at venues and music festivals across the United States from 2010-2020 and commissioned and premiered seven new works for soprano, flute, and harp. In addition to teaching and performing, Dr. Crocker sells, rents, and services pedal and lever harps through Hillnote Harps and has a passion for teaching and researching both harp and musicology. Sarah has presented lecture-recitals about her research on harpist-composers Henriette Renié, Alphonse Hasselmans, and Pierre Jamet across the country.
Dr. Crocker holds a B.M., M.M., and D.M.A. in Harp Performance with Musicology cognate from the University of Alabama. She studied harp with Judith Sullivan-Hicks, Mary Brigid Roman, Katie Buckley, Judy Loman, and Carol McClure. When she is not performing or teaching, Sarah enjoys cooking, gardening, reading and being with her family and dogs, Pippy and Dash.
