Dr. Sara Erb is the assistant professor of music in bassoon at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana and is the principal bassoon of the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra in Owensboro, Kentucky. Her primary teachers have included Doug Spaniol, Graham Salvage, Gretha Tuls, Stefano Canuti, and William Ludwig. Her performance interests lie in contemporary repertoire and composer collaborations. Recent performances have included six chamber orchestra premieres by Indianapolis-based composers with Sound Ecologies Music Collective, the world premiere of Aves y Brujas by Colombian composer Maria Alejandra Garcia Guzman for wind quintet, and a solo recital including repertoire by Kalevi Aho, Julius Röntgen, and Heitor Villa-Lobos. Sara has commissioned Dai Fujikura to write a sinfonietta reduction for his bassoon concerto, to be premiered in 2026.
When she’s not fussing over reeds, Sara loves visiting friends across the world, reading, swimming, scuba diving, and scouting for the perfect old-fashioned.