Interview with Sarah Boyd, MM, Early Childhood Music Specialist

Sarah Boyd, MM is a piano teacher, early childhood music specialist, and all-things music education enthusiast. She holds a Bachelor of Music Education  from Grove City College and a Master of Music Education from Eastern Michigan University where she studied with Dr. Heather Shouldice.  Sarah owns Piano Vine Studio, an audiation-based private and group piano studio founded in 2010 for students of all ages, both in-person and online. Sarah has completed GIML certification courses in Early Childhood, Piano Level 1 & 2, and joined as GIML faculty in 2024.

In 2010, she founded Hummingbirds Music Together, an early childhood music program for children and the grownups who love them, which she continues to direct today.  

Since 2018, she has been the Lead Teaching Artist for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. This position allows her to teach both students and teachers, develop educational concerts, teacher professional development and host onstage with the orchestra. 

Sarah completed a Graduate Certificate in Injury-Preventive Well-Coordinated Keyboard Technique with Dr. Lister-Sink at Salem College in 2022. She is a member of MTNA, NFMC, and is currently serving as VP for the Michigan GIML chapter. 

Sarah and her husband, Ryan, enjoy life near Detroit, MI with their four children Julia, JP, Luke, and Wesley.
https://www.pianovinestudio.com/

Top 5 Songs of Encouragement
1) “Defying Gravity” from Wicked the Musical, performed by Idina Menzel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLb5LSlo1Y8&t=133s

2) “Sheep May Safely Graze” by Bach, arr. by Egon Petri, performed by Leon Fleisher
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVVd-gjR8Qk&t=1s

3) “You Cannot Lose My Love” by Sara Groves
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgsjC-j75e8&t=88s

4) “For the Beauty of the Earth” from Be Thou My Vision by John Rutter, the Cambridge Singers, City of London Sinfonia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bDoMflYErE&t=178s

5) “Halleluhah” (Improvisation on the Theme of the "Hallelujah" Chorus from Part 2 of Handel's "Messiah", HWV 56) by Gabriela Montero
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIftMhlD5XU