Three talented artists are joining the Department of Music Performance Program faculty this autumn. We’re pleased to welcome Sarah Brailey as the Director of the Vocal Studies Program, John Macfarlane as the Visiting Director of the Chamber Music Program, and Fareed Haque as the Visiting Director of the Jazz Ensemble.
“We are delighted to welcome three exceptional performing artists and visionary leaders to our Performance Program this year,” says Director of Performance Programs Barbara Schubert. “Each one brings a wealth of experience in teaching, performing, curating, and exploring their particular repertoires, as well as a sincere interest in collaborating with our other Performance Program ensembles and with our academic faculty. I know we will all enjoy as well as benefit from the energy and expertise they will bring to the UChicago campus this year.”
Sarah Brailey, Director, Vocal Studies Program
“I'm thrilled to be joining the University of Chicago as Director of Vocal Studies this fall. To be joining a program that encourages exploration of all types of singing and music-making is a dream come true.”
A native of Wisconsin, GRAMMY Award-winning soprano Sarah Brailey enjoys a versatile career that defies categorization. Praised by The New York Times for her “radiant, liquid tone,” she is a prolific vocalist, cellist, recording artist, and educator.
Sarah’s numerous career highlights include performing with Kanye West and GRAMMY Award-winning alternative-classical vocal band Roomful of Teeth at the Hollywood Bowl, serenading the Mona Lisa with John Zorn’s Madrigals at the Louvre in Paris, and performing the role of The Soul in the world premiere recording of Dame Ethel Smyth’s The Prison, for which she received the 2020 GRAMMY for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. Other notable recent and upcoming projects include Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Colorado Symphony; Julia Wolfe’s Her Story with the Lorelei Ensemble and the Boston, Chicago, Nashville, National, and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras; and John Zorn works with Barbara Hannigan at the Elbphilharmonie. Her extensive discography includes the GRAMMY-nominated albums Sing Thee Nowell by New York Polyphony and The Clarion Choir’s recording of Maximilian Steinberg’s Passion Week, as well as the world premiere recording of Du Yun’s Angel’s Bone, winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in Music.
Sarah is a co-founder of Just Bach, a monthly concert series in Madison, Wisconsin where she is also the Artistic Director of the Handel Aria Competition. An avid cyclist and nature lover, she lives with three bikes, three cats, and a plethora of houseplants.
John Macfarlane, Visiting Director, Chamber Music Program
“Chamber music is a life-affirming pursuit and the ultimate in small group projects! Through this extraordinary literature we work together to create the most intimate of musical experiences. I’m very grateful and excited to be able to share and explore this music with UChicago students.”
An artist of remarkable versatility, John Macfarlane is a sought-after orchestral leader, chamber musician, conductor, vocalist, and educator. He is Assistant Principal Second Violin of the Lyric Opera Orchestra, Artistic Director of Rembrandt Chamber Musicians, and Guest Concertmaster of the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra.
As a chamber musician he is a featured artist with Rembrandt Chamber Musicians, Bach Week, Rush Hour Concerts series, Dame Myra Hess series, and Strings Music Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
He has performed as guest concertmaster of the Oregon Symphony and held the position of concertmaster with the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, Owensboro Symphony Orchestra, Breckenridge Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra, and Spoleto Festival. He has also performed with the The Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.
A dynamic advocate for the arts, he is a frequent masterclass clinician for the Betty Haag School and New Music School and presents motivational seminars to advanced youth orchestras.
He received a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance and Certificate in Music Theatre from Northwestern University and a Master of Music in Violin Performance from University of Maryland.
Fareed Haque, Visiting Director, Jazz Ensemble
“Jazz is a collective, community-based art form, that embodies values and traditions rooted in ensemble, not individual display, cooperation not domination. The power of jazz comes in its ability to connect these typically folklorical traditions to our modern world. I am excited to take our village at UChicago to some new places, and rediscover some old ones!”
Fareed Haque is a modern guitar virtuoso. Steeped in classical and jazz traditions, his unique command of the guitar and different musical styles inspire his musical ventures with tradition and fearless innovation. Since 2011, Haque has returned to his first loves, jazz guitar and classical guitar. He has been busy performing and recording with his trio featuring legendary B3 virtuoso Tony Monaco, his own trio and jazz quartet, as well as his larger world music group the Flat Earth Ensemble. Recent releases include the critically acclaimed Out of Nowhere featuring drummer Billy Hart and bassist George Mraz, The Flat Earth Ensemble's latest release Trance Hypothesis, and The Tony Monaco/Fareed Haque release Furry Slippers that reached the top 10 in Jazz Radio Airplay.
Fareed has performed at the Chicago, Detroit, and Java Jazz festivals and was featured as part of the Made in Chicago Series performing with his numerous groups at Millennium Park's Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago. He also performed and arranged numerous classical programs as 2013 artist-in-residence for The Chicago Latin Music Festival, was featured on WBEZ, as well as WFMT's Fiesta! radio programs, and has recorded arrangements of Piazzolla and Leo Brouwer with the critically acclaimed Kaia String Quartet. Haque continues to tour and record extensively, along with documenting his unique teaching methods in a series of best-selling interactive video courses through TrueFire.