Cal State LA Music Professor Sara Carina Graef Honored With Outstanding Professor Award

Sara Carina Graef, a professor of music in the College of Arts and Letters at Cal State LA, was recognized for excellence in teaching and outstanding achievements during University Convocation 2022.

A Pasadena resident, Graef was presented an Outstanding Professor Award on Aug. 18 for her significant achievements in scholarly inquiry or creativity, as well as professional activities and community service.

Graef is passionate about programming music by diverse composers and using music as a platform for advocacy through art. Much of Graef's music focuses on feminist issues, gun violence, social justice and climate change. She received the inaugural Northridge Orchestral Composition Prize, and has held residencies at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico, the Ucross Foundation, the Ragdale Foundation, the Hambidge Center, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.

At Cal State LA, Graef regularly serves as a project advisor, has served as the Department of Music's principal undergraduate advisor and has been instrumental in curricular revision and various program reviews over the years. She teaches theory and musicianship, a "Women in Music" course, and directs the Cal State LA New Music Ensemble. She was president of Friends of Music at Cal State LA for eight years, helping raise scholarship funds for music majors.

Her music has been performed throughout North America and Europe. Her commissions include pieces for Elizabeth Pitcairn, violinist and owner of the 1720 Red Mendelssohn Stradivarius; baritone Daniel Neer, for a project with Polar Bears International; the Newport Symphony in conjunction with the Yakona Nature Preserve and Portland's Meadowlark Trio.

She has also served on the faculty of the Luzerne Music Center, the board of the L.A. chapter of the American Composers Forum and for several years as stranding coordinator for the Alaska Whale Foundation. Graef earned her Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition from USC.

Photo: Sara Carina Graef, Cal State LA's Outstanding Professor Award recipient. (Credit: J. Emilio Flores/Cal State LA)