Sarah Riskind is a choral conductor, composer, and fiddler based in Peoria, Illinois. As Music Director of the Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana since 2021, she has highlighted stunning repertoire from many historical periods, from pairing Dietrich Buxtehude with Caroline Shaw to exploring the meaning of canon in a concert entitled The Three Bs (featuring music by Margaret Bonds, Harry T. Burleigh, and Lili Boulanger).

She is the Director of Traditional Music at Willow Hill United Methodist Church and has also spent many summers as choral director and faculty at The Walden School’s summer programs for creative musicians in Dublin, New Hampshire. Previously, she was the Director of Choral Activities at Eureka College in central Illinois, where she received the T. A. Abbott Award for Faculty Excellence from the Higher Education and Leadership Ministries of the Disciples of Christ.

As a composer, Dr. Riskind has a large catalogue of choral music, chamber music, and art songs, including many settings of Jewish texts and a four-movement Oz Cantata for chorus, soloists, and string quartet. In addition to her work in classical music, she is a fiddler and vocalist in the Peoria-based Irish band Turas.

She holds a DMA in Choral Conducting from University of Washington, an MM in Choral Conducting from University of Wisconsin at Madison, and a BA in Music from Williams College. www.sarahriskind.com