Sara Petokas

An active performer and educator based in Indianapolis, Sara Petokas performs regularly on both modern and period instruments. Sara holds a Bachelors in Music Education from Mansfield University, a Masters in Horn Performance from the Eastman School of Music and is currently finishing her Doctorate in Horn Performance and Literature from Indiana University. Sara is Horn Instructor at Wheaton College and Conservatory in Illinois. She is also the lead teaching artist and writes the curriculum for El Sistema Indianapolis which provides music education to underserved students.

On the baroque horn, Sara has performed with the Indiana University Baroque Orchestra, the Bloomington Bach Cantata Project and the North Carolina Baroque Orchestra on a Project for the South Carolina Bach Society. She recently performed Handel’s “Parnasso in Festa” and the “Teleman Concerto for two horns” TWV 52:D2 with the Indiana University Baroque Orchestra.

On the modern horn, Sara holds the chair of Fourth Horn with the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra, and performs regularly Danville Symphony Orchestra and Carmel Symphony Orchestra in Indianapolis. She also performs frequently with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra. During the Summer of 2018, Sara performed as principal horn in the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival Orchestra, in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Sara plays regularly with The Flower City Brass, a quintet founded at Eastman in 2017. The quintet has performed around the world, most recently with the Aspen Music Festival in the Summer of 2021. The quintet was also invited to compete at the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble Competition in July 2019. In the summer of 2018, they appeared in Leksand, Sweden, in conjunction with the Stockholm Chamber Brass. In the Summer of 2017, the quintet performed in Höff, Germany, invited as a fellowship quintet to a festival with the Rekkenze Brass. In February 2018, the quintet performed as featured soloists with the Eastman Wind Ensemble; a composition for Brass quintet and Wind Ensemble, “New York City Scapes,” by Jeff Tyzik.

Sara Petokas currently holds the position of Adjunct Professor of Horn at Marian University. Originally from Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, Sara attended and received a Bachelors in Music Education from Mansfield University. While at Mansfield University, she performed Morceau de Concert by Camille Saint-Saëns with the Mansfield Symphony Orchestra in 2014 as winner of the Concerto Competition. She completed her Masters in Music Performance and Literature at the Eastman School of music in 2017 under the teaching of Professor Peter Kurau. While at Eastman, she was the TA of the Eastman Horn Studio and Natural Horn Studio. Sara was also the Instructor for the Horn Methods Course in the Music Education Department and taught Secondary horn lessons. As an intern for the Eastman Community Music School in 2015-2017, she maintained a large studio and taught private lessons to students of all ages.

Sara plays regularly with The Flower City Brass, a quintet founded at Eastman in 2017. The quintet has performed around the world, most recently invited to compete at the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble Competition in July 2019. In the summer of 2018 they appeared in Leksand, Sweden, in conjunction with the Stockholm Chamber Brass. In the Summer of 2017, the quintet performed in Höff, Germany, invited as a fellowship quintet to a festival with the Rekkenze Brass. In February 2018, the quintet performed as featured soloists with the Eastman Wind Ensemble; a composition for Brass quintet and Wind Ensemble, “New York City Scapes,” by Jeff Tyzik. During the Summer of 2018, Sara also played principal horn in the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival Orchestra, in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Sara has recently finished her DMA in Horn Performance at Indiana University under the instruction of Jeff Nelsen, where she is employed as the GA in the Performing Ensembles Division Library. She has performed a vast repertoire of Baroque and Classical pieces on period instruments. Most notably she performed with the Indiana University Baroque Orchestra on Handel’s Parnasso in Festa in February 2019. Throughout her career, Sara has studied with notable performers such as William Vermeulen, Roger Kaza, Denise Tryon, and William Purvis.