Hello, I'm Sarah Cole
As a dedicated violin and viola teacher with 20 years of experience in private studio instruction, I am passionate about nurturing the next generation of musicians. I strive to create a supportive and innovative environment that challenges each student to reach their full potential.

Photo by Andrea Wenglowskyj

Photo by Michael Chernoff
What does Sarah teach?
Private violin and viola lessons at her home studio in Buffalo, NY
Students aged 4 and up!
Adult students are welcome
- no experience needed!
In person and hybrid learning options available

Photo: Andrea Wenglowskyj
Studying violin with Sarah Cole:
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Student Success:
Sarah's teaching methods create joyful and accomplished students who can be proud of themselves and their playing.
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Students regularly perform in All-County, NYSSMA and Youth Orchestras.
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Graduates of the studio leave to major in music and frequently attend Ivy League universities.
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Teaching Experience:
Sarah has spent the past two decades developing successful teaching methods to insure all her students are set for success.
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With experience teaching beginner violinists through advanced collegiate level, Sarah is most passionate about teaching and fostering the joy of violin in K-12 musicians
3
Community:
Students participate in:
weekly lessons
monthly classes
string workshops
year-end celebrations
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Emphasizing community, Sarah's students build friends in the studio, work together to develop new skills and encourage one another to do their best.
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Performances:
Sarah provides consistent performance opportunities for the students in her studio.
Students performs a minimum of two solo recitals with additional opportunities throughout the year.
Academic year '24-'25 has six public performance opportunities for students!
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Adaptability:
Sarah has considerable experience teaching violin to neurodivergent students.
With customizes teaching strategies, Sarah helps each student gain confidence and achieve their unique and individual goals.
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Unique Workshops:
In addition to regular studio activities, special workshops that Sarah hosts, allow students to explore various facets of string playing.
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Sarah brings in artists to host workshops on composition, Irish fiddling, improvisation and more!


Announcing a new way for adults to learn violin!
Hybrid, virtual subscription lessons coming March, 2025
Click the link below to be on the email list when the program releases!
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Hybrid subscription lessons will be offered for beginner through intermediate adult lessons who want to learn at their own pace throughout the month. Offered to students who live anywhere!
​​​Sarah Cole has been playing violin for 29 years and has dedicated her life to performing and music education.
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Sarah spent over 8 years studying violin at conservatories earning three degrees in Violin Performance and Pedagogy from well-respected institutions, the University of Louisville, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, Wales, U.K., and Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music.
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Sarah’s passion for violin has taken her around the world. Sarah has performed for HRH King Charles at Buckingham Palace, a chamber orchestra concert at the National Theatre of Costa Rica, and recitals at the Lincoln Cathedral in England.
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An an educator, Sarah pours her joy of violin into her students which are becoming successful musicians themselves.
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Her students regularly achieve perfect scores on NYSSMA and ECMEA competitions, perform multiple public recitals a year, graduate and go on to attend Ivy League universities (Most recent being MIT, Harvard, University of Chicago)
Testimonials from parents:
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"Ms. Cole exercises a unique approach based on each individual child’s abilities and/or ambitions. ​
Her love for music inspires young musicians to do better. Frequent performances in front of an audience (with an accompanist) boost kids’ confidence. ​
My daughter, who plays viola, progressed quickly in two short years she’s been taking lessons with Ms Cole. ​
A warm atmosphere of the studio is welcoming to kids and parents alike.
We love being a part of Ms Cole’s musical family!"
- I. A.
"Ms. Cole is fantastic! She is very professional and well-organized.
She has a wonderful way of working with my daughter to teach her technique and help her learn the foundations of music and playing violin.
She has really connected with my daughter and is helping her reach the next level. I'm so glad I found Ms. Cole!"
-S. J.
"We are so grateful that our found Ms. Cole's studio!
Our daughter has grown tremendously in her technical skills and most importantly her love of playing the viola.
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Sarah is a gifted teacher who cares for her students and is a delight for parents to work with as well."
- L. W.
"My daughter started with Mrs. Cole (as a beginner) 3 years ago. Mrs. Cole has been patient, and kind, and relates well with my daughter (tween/teen).
As a music instructor myself, I appreciate her methodical approach to teaching, each skill building on the next.
Her expertise and professionalism as a teacher is evident when I hear the performances of students she produces from within her studio. Highly recommend!"
- K. J.
"Ms. Cole is a wonderful teacher for our son. She lets him be silly while pushing him to do his best.
You can tell she creates a perfect balance for all of her students, as we get to witness how much each of them have progressed at each recital.
Speaking of the recitals, Ms. Cole puts in an incredible amount of effort to make the experience memorable for both her students and the parents. We were very fortunate to find her."
- J. P.
"Ms. Cole is phenomenal.
We are very impressed with her patience and ability to teach music while making the experience enjoyable and significant for our daughter.
Our daughter began at 6 years old and within a very small timeframe is already reading music and playing songs. We highly recommend Ms. Cole."
- J. G.
"Mrs. Cole is a wonderful violin teacher!
She is a talented violinist and a very patient, kind, flexible and knowledgeable instructor.
She knows how to individualize instruction to achieve success. I would recommend Mrs. Cole for a student of any age or ability!"
- R. R.
"Ms. Cole is an incredible musician, and wonderful teacher. Our daughter has been taking lessons for just under a year now, and her progress is remarkable.
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Ms. Cole's teaching methods and the energy she brings to every one of her lessons goes a long way in inspiring good practice habits for her students, and keeps the lessons structured, but also fun.
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My wife and I were so impressed to see that Ms. Cole organizes regular recitals for her students, to build early performance confidence - something that we as young musicians with private instructors never had exposure to until much later in life.
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I know for sure that our daughter is getting the most out of her private violin instruction, and it means so much to us that she's having so much fun with it as well."
-E. W.
"When we started (lessons) we had no idea just how happy we would be.
Mrs. Cole has exceeded our expectations it’s her ability to connect with students and teach them. She never makes the student feel inferior or distant.
She’s very good about challenging them appropriately based on ability.
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She encourages curiosity and uses lots of positive reinforcement.
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You get the total package with Mrs. Cole. Organized, efficient, and fair. She must love what she does because she goes the extra mile for her pupils."
- A. L.
"Sarah Cole is a gifted musician and teacher.
Her delightful and welcoming studio exudes a life dedicated to the exploration of the world of music.
In lessons, she performs the magic trick of being at once challenging, rigorous, patient, and kind." -S. M.
Drop in lesson options:
Sometimes young students and adults prefer to just have a few 'drop in lessons' to help them with a specific problem or audition coming up. These are available schedule depending, in packages of three lessons for 135.
NYSSMA Audition
Need help preparing for this audition?
Ms. Cole can help prepare the required scales, sight reading strategies, and polish the rep piece.
Youth Orchestra audition
Have some tricky excerpts that you need to prepare? Ms. Cole can help polish your piece, choose the best fingerings for your orchestral excerpts.
Specific piece help
Are you an advanced student struggling to play a specific piece or preparing for an upcoming performance? Receive advice and practice strategies from Sarah.