Hailed by the Calgary Herald as “outstanding”, Sara Hahn-Scinocco is currently the Principal Flutist for the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. Prior to accepting her post with the Calgary Philharmonic in 2006, Sara performed briefly in the position of Assistant Principal Flute/Piccolo with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and she completed a three-week tour of Japan and Hong Kong with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada in 2002.
As a soloist, Sara has also performed throughout Canada, the United States and Brazil as a guest of the Campos do Jordao International Winter Festival in 2007. In April 2016, she performed the world premiere of “The Daughter of Elysium” for flute, orchestra and chorus, composed by Canadian composer, Arthur Bachmann with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus. In 2018, she performed the world premiere of “Sea Dreams”, this time written by Canadian composer Peter Togni, with fellow flutist, Sarah Gieck MacDonald and local choral phenom, Luminous Voices under the direction of Timothy Shantz. This live performance is the featured work on Luminous Voices’ Juno Nominated album entitled “Sea Dreams” (details here). 2018 also marked the release of Sara’s debut solo album, entitled “I close my eyes in order to see”, featuring pianist Laura Loewen and Sarah Gieck MacDonald, recorded at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and supported by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (details here).
Awards for Sara’s solo flute performances include the University of Toronto concerto competition, first place in the National Finals of the Canadian Music Competitions, and the Junior Musical Club Concerto Competition in Winnipeg, which gave her a debut performance as a soloist in front of an orchestra at age seventeen. In 2005, Sara was awarded first prize of $10,000 as the winner of the Women’s Musical Club of Winnipeg Doris McLellan Competition for Solo Performance with Orchestra.
Sara has been quite active as a flute teacher and coach across Canada for close to three decades. She has been invited to teach and perform at universities throughout Canada, including Lethbridge, Calgary, Victoria, Toronto and Winnipeg and was the guest artist for the Syrinx Flute Festival in 2015. Sara is proud to be a co-founder and active member of the Green Banana Flute Studios, an innovative teaching and performing collaboration (details here).
She graduated with honours from the University of Toronto, receiving a Bachelor in Music Performance under internationally renowned flutist, Susan Hoeppner.