Editor’s note: Cello faculty member Sara Edgerton and her husband, theory teacher Paul Thompson, are moving to Cape Girardeau, MO where Sara has accepted a position at Southeast Missouri State University. She will be greatly missed. (We are now interviewing candidates to fill her position, and expect to hire a new cello faculty member sometime this month.) The String Academy will miss Sara and Paul. We appreciate the outstanding work they have both done, wish them well during the coming year, and hope they will visit soon. One of Sara’s students, Kevin Phillips, submitted the following interview.
Sara Edgerton
KP: When and how did you start playing the cello?
SE: While a 4th grade student, my parents asked me to listen to recordings of all the orchestral instruments and choose the one that interested me the most I was immediately attracted to the cello. I had a particularly good teacher in high school. At that time I began performing frequently in solo and group concerts in Ithaca, NY.
KP: What led you to cello teaching?
SE: After college I went to England and stayed there for several years. I was offered a teaching job involving a group of 8 children. It soon grew to 45 students. I enjoyed it very much.
KP: When and why did you initially come to Milwaukee?
SE: I heard about the program while in New York three years ago. I was invited to interview for this position and accepted it when the offer came through.
KP: What are your plans for the future?
SE: I will be an Assistant Professor of Cello at a college in a small town on the Mississippi River, where I will run the string department and develop the prep school.
KP: What will you miss most about Milwaukee?
SE: My students! I will think of them daily, and hope they are all practicing!
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