About
Sarah Grace Graves is a singer and composer working at the intersection between recital and ritual.
From 2020-2022 she studied voice with Nicholas Isherwood while conducting an artistic residency at the Fondation des États-Unis on interdisciplinary collaboration with voice. In summer 2023, thanks to the Michiko Hirayama Scholarship, she was singer-in-residence at the Fondazione Isabella Scelsi in Rome. In 2022, she joined the PhD program in composition at the University of California, Berkeley.
An avid collaborator, she has duo projects with Eda Er, Virginia Guidi, and Julie Zhu and has appeared with line upon line, collective lovemusic, Del Sol Quartet, Carol Robinson, Volti, and the Italian vocal ensemble Fragmente. She is an alumna of the Voix Nouvelles Academy at Royaumont and the Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship at the Fondation des États-Unis.
In addition to her work as a singer and composer of contemporary music, she is also active as a liturgical singer and has sung regularly at Grace Cathedral, the American Cathedral in Paris, and Christ Church Cathedral in Houston, TX. She is currently soprano section leader at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in San Francisco.
Composition
Click here for list of works
Breath Atlas (2025) for voice and percussion duo. Written for line upon line. Premiered with line upon line, January 11, 2025 at CRASHBOX, Austin, TX. Score sample
Love Letter (2023), reworking of Monteverdi’s Lettera Amorosa after a tape in the Michiko Hirayama archive, for voice, two pianos, timpani, video, and tree branches. Written for Yarn/Wire. Premiered with Yarn/Wire, December 15, 2023 at Hertz Hall, Berkeley, CA.
Howl Alive (2022), for voice and bass clarinet. Premiered with Carol Robinson at the Fondation des États-Unis, April 21, 2022 as part of the artistic residency project Bringing Life to the Score with Carol Robinson, Ensemble Calliopée and the Fondation des États-Unis.
the feeling of being in a body (2021), for six voices. Written for Académie Voix Nouvelles of Fondation Royaumont. Premiered by EXAUDI on September 5, 2021.
night vision (2019), for two voices. Written for and premiered with Niki Lada at IlSuono Contemporary Music Week, Città di Castello, IT, July 2019. Score sample
Subsequent performances with Soso Leung-Wolf, Cecilia Engelhart, Nahyoung Judy Jung, Helena Sorokina, Reinet Behncke, Simona Mastropasqua, and Virginia Guidi
Landing (2018), for string quartet. Composed June–October, 2018. Premiered at CNMAT by Quatuor Tana, November 11, 2018.
Subsequent performances by JACK Quartet, Bergamot Quartet, and Homegrown Ensemble (Tampa, FL).
Performance
Click here for repertoire list
Carol Robinson: Back Into the Gaping Again-ness (2021) for voice and fixed media
Giacinto Scelsi: Canti del Capricorno (1962-1972, unpublished) for solo voice and auxiliary instruments
Projects
Sada Duo with Eda Er - I’m unhappy with how late you are. (2023)
A Rose Is Not a Rose (2023)
all those beautiful feelings are your feelings (2023)
YEAH (2024)
Sarah Grace Graves and Virginia Guidi
Ritual 03.04.2023