My Story

 

Hi! Welcome to The Hungry Musician. I’m Sarah, a violinist and lover of all things edible. I make my home in the Jersey City / New York City area, where I work as a professional violinist, food blogger, and culinary instructor for musician.  I have loved cooking for as long as I can remember, which, coincidentally, is about as long as I’ve been playing music!

Food and music might seem like two very separate things, but over time, I’ve realized how closely connected they are. My creativity in the kitchen feeds my musicianship in so many ways. But that hasn’t always been the case.

Let’s rewind to when I was a college freshman, spending the entire year holed up in a practice room. I was convinced that the key to being a “serious” musician was sacrificing everything for my music. I wasn’t eating well or sleeping properly, and rarely made time to enjoy moving my body. By the time the year was up, I was completely burnt out and not feeling like myself. To make matters worse, the results I was seeing on my instrument were disproportionate to the hours I was putting in practicing. In trying to be as “serious” as I could be about my instrument, I had lost sight of my other priorities (and it didn’t even really pay off).

When I returned to school in the fall, I dug into my long time passion for cooking to learn how to make delicious, nourishing meals. I became empowered to start incorporating enjoyable exercise, going to bed at a decent hour, and making a real self-care routine. My life instantly became more balanced, and my music reflected that. Feeling proud of the food I was making also made me feel more creative, more confident, more balanced, and more inspired. I may have been spending less time in the practice room, but I was making better progress on the violin.

All I wanted to talk about were my culinary adventures, and I was constantly inviting friends over for dinner. One day in quartet practice, a friend who had probably heard enough about my homemade tomato jam suggested I start a blog. That day, The Hungry Musician was born.

After the birth of this blog in 2011, I finished college, moved to New York City for graduate school, went to graduate school again for Historical Performance, and then finally started my full-time music career. I kept cooking and blogging through it all, because being active in the kitchen was not something I was ever willing to sacrifice again.

In 2020, the pandemic shutdown (which caused all of my performing work to evaporate overnight) led me to question some things. I liked being a full-time musician, but I felt like something was missing. I had always wanted to turn my blog into part of my job. So, I used my forced sabbatical to start teaching virtual cooking classes to bring people together.

Somewhere along the way, I figured out that while I loved teaching cooking classes to anyone who wanted to learn from me – which is still true! – the most rewarding clients I worked with were musicians. The struggle to find time to cook as a musician never stops (in fact, it may even get harder and harder). I loved being able to help other musicians make cooking a priority in their life, and more importantly to make cooking fun.

Now that performances are back in full swing, I split my time between my performing career and helping musicians to cook food they love. Food is fuel, yes, but it is also an inspiration. It makes me a better, more fulfilled musician, and it can do the same for you.

Feel free to look around for recipes that inspire, or to learn more about working with me.

See you in the kitchen!

 

 

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