Sarah McMahon, Violoncello
Sarah McMahon is widely considered to be one of Ireland’s finest and most versatile young musicians. She began her cello studies with Nora Gilleece at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin in 1987. In 1995 she moved to London where she studied at the Royal Academy of Music with David Strange, Jenny Ward-Clarke and Colin Carr graduating in 2001 with a first class B Mus degree and Dip RAM.
Since then she has been much in demand as soloist and chamber musician throughout the U.K. and Ireland. She is a member of the Callino String Quartet with whom she has a busy performing schedule. They have toured widely throughout Europe, performing at many festivals and collaborating with diverse artists such as Barry Douglas, Edgar Meyer, rock band Arcade Fire and John Abercrombie. The Quartet has also worked closely with several composers including Vasks, Ali-Zadeh and Edgar Meyer on their new works for string quartet and in 2006 they released a critically acclaimed debut CD of music by Ian Wilson for the Riverrun label.
In addition to her commitments with the Quartet, Sarah takes a keen interest in historical performance and is the principal continuo cellist with the Irish Baroque Orchestra. She is also regularly invited to play guest principal cellist with the King’s Consort, English Concert, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Academy of Ancient Music.
Sarah is in increasing demand as soloist with recent concerto performances at St. John's Smith Square, the Casa da Musica in Porto and the National Concert Hall in Dublin. She also appeared recently as concerto soloist with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and featured as soloist in a critically acclaimed disc for Hyperion of the Vivaldi Double Cello Concerto with Jonathan Cohen and the Kings Consort.
