Marisela Sager,  flutist

           

            A native of Southern California, Marisela Sager  is currently the Assistant Principal flutist with theCleveland Orchestra.  Previously she held the same position with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.   She also served as rotating principal flutist with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida.  Ms. Sager loves playing in the orchestral setting but also enjoys performing as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the country.

            Marisela Sager has played in orchestras throughout the United States, Mexico, and Europe with ensembles such as the Pittsburg Symphony, the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfonica UANL (Monterrey, Mexico), and the Florida West Coast Symphony. She has collaborated with conductors including: Franz Welser-Most, Michael Tilson Thomas, Larry Rachleff, Seigi Ozawa, Hans Graf, Roberto Abbado, Sir Neville Mariner, Zdenek Macal, and Sir Collin Davis. 

            Also active as a soloist and chamber musician, Ms. Sager has received first prize in the San Diego Flute Guild Young Artist and piccolo competitions, was a two-year award winner in the Musical Merit Foundation Competition, and won the 2000 Frank Bowen Young Artist competition.  Her chamber music career includes many noted performances with artists such as flutist Paula Robison, violinist Cho-Liang Lin, renowned pipa player Wu-Man, and Academy Award winning composer, Tan Dun.  Ms. Sager was featured in repeated performances with Summerfest La Jolla in California where she was featured in a broadcast on National Public Radio’s "Performance Today". As a member of the wind quintet CO5 made up of members of the Cleveland Orchestra she was invited by the US Embassy in Serbia to play and teach in Belgrade.  Marisela Sager has appeared as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, the New Mexico Symphony, the New World Symphony, and the San Diego State Symphony Orchestra.

            In addition to her extensive performance experience, Marisela Sager enjoys and has been recognized as an excellent music educator. She has given masterclasses for "El Sistema" in Caracas, Venezuela, at Miami University, Kent State University, and Baldwin Wallace College as well as reaching young children through the Cleveland Orchestra’s Rainbow Concert series and Learning through Music program.  She actively participated as a leader in the New World Symphony’s community outreach program as well as working with VITAS, an organization that sends volunteers to visit and play music for patients in nursing homes and hospitals.

           Ms. Sager holds a Master of Music from Rice University and a Bachelor of Music from San Diego State University, where her teachers included Leone Buyse and Claude Monteux, respectively.