Sara Edgerton is Professor of Cello and String Bass at Southeast Missouri State University, and is the Artistic Director of the Southeast Missouri Symphony Orchestra, in residence at Southeast Missouri State University. Dr. Edgerton conducts the Southeast Missouri Symphony in its eminently successful Symphony Series at the River Campus at Southeast Missouri State University.
Edgerton’s recent conducting activities include repertoire by Dvorak (the New World Symphony), Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 1, the Brahms Double Concerto, Bruckner's Symphony No. 4, and a world premiere of Robert Fruehwald's orchestral overture Dangerously Slick (April 2016). In 2016--2017 she conducted the world premiere of a large-scale work for orchestra and chorus by Gordon (Dick) Goodwin as part of the Tenth Anniversary Season at the River Campus. She has also recently conducted two highly acclaimed performances of Beethoven’s iconic Ninth Symphony with the combined Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois Symphonies and Choirs (April 2015). She has conducted the Southeast Missouri Symphony in a tour of the East Coast, with performances in Virginia and in Midtown Manhattan (May 2013). She has led the orchestra in concert appearances throughout Missouri and in Illinois, and conducted the orchestra in China, with performances in Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou, and on the Great Wall of China. More recently, Dr. Edgerton conducted the Festival Orchestra of the Festival Suoni d’Abruzzo, Italy, in an all-Mozart program as part of the Summer Festival 2017. As conductor, she has collaborated with such soloists as Mark O’Connor, Grammy Award Winning Violinist; Allen Vizzutti, Trumpet Virtuoso; Valentina Igoshina, Jack Gibbons, and Antonio Pompa-Baldi, internationally-acclaimed concert pianists; David Halen, Concertmaster of the St. Louis Symphony; Mark Sparks, Principal Flutist of the St. Louis Symphony; Viviana Guzman, concert flutist, and Neal E. Boyd, 2008 Winner of "America's Got Talent.”
Dr. Edgerton also enjoys an active performing career as a cellist. She has collaborated with such composers as Aaron Copland, Karel Husa, Claude Baker and Morton Subotnick in performances of their works, and has premiered a number of works for the cello. Dr. Edgerton has appeared at numerous festivals, including the International Music Festival (London and Oxford, England), the Festival Suoni d’Abruzzo (Italy), the Aston Magna Festival in Massachusetts, the International Baroque Festival (Jackson, Mississippi), the St. Louis Baroque Festival, and the Southern Illinois Festival (“SIFest”). She has appeared on many concert series throughout the United States and in England, and has also given concerts in Shanghai and Hunan, China, as a member of the Christensen, Lim, and Edgerton Trio. She is also currently performing as a cellist with the Paducah Symphony (KY).
Dr. Edgerton is a dedicated music educator, and has had notable success in working with cellists and string bassists. Her students have gone on to advanced performance studies at such institutions as the Juilliard School of Music, Indiana University, the Royal Academy of Music (London, England), and the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music. Her students have participated in such music festivals as Aspen Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, the National Orchestra Institute, and the Oberlin Baroque Institute. They have performed as members of the Memphis Symphony (TN), Kansas City Philharmonic, London Philharmonic (UK), and St. Louis Symphony, and are active professionally as music educators, conductors, and performers.
Dr. Edgerton received her undergraduate degree in cello performance from the Eastman School of Music as a student of Ronald Leonard and Alan Harris, and the Master of Arts and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from Cornell University, where she was the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards. She has also studied cello in England with the artist teacher William Pleeth. She has had post-graduate studies in conducting with Glenn Block, Jorge Mester, Kirk Muspratt, Manuel Alvarez, and Donald Portnoy. Several recent awards that Dr. Edgerton has received include the Award for Outstanding Scholarship and Creative Activity from the College of Liberal Arts at Southeast Missouri State University, the Artist Teacher Award from the Missouri Chapter of ASTA, the Southeast Faculty Alumni Award, and the Award for Distinguished Service from the College of Liberal Arts at Southeast. She was also nominated as a ZONTA “Woman of Achievement” in 2011.
