Sara Carina Graef’s music has been performed around the United States as well as in Canada, Europe, and Mexico. She has held composer residencies at the Ucross Foundation, the Wurlitzer Foundation, the Ragdale Foundation, the Hambidge Center, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, the Ernest Bloch Festival, and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposiums. She served on the faculty of the Luzerne Music Center, on the board of the Los Angeles chapter of the American Composers Forum, and as President of Friends of Music at Cal State LA.
Dr. Graef is passionate about advocacy and activism, and her works often take on themes of social justice, feminism, nature, or the environment. Her compositions span from solo and small chamber ensembles to works for symphonic orchestra and wind ensemble. Commissions include Yakona (2023), commissioned and inspired by the Newport Symphony Orchestra and the Yakona Nature Preserve in Newport, Oregon; the solo work, Blue Vishuddha, for violin virtuoso Elizabeth Pitcairn for her legendary “Red Mendelssohn” 1720 Stradivarius violin (2014); multiple song cycles including Stone (2014), for soprano, trumpet, and piano, inspired by the experiences of writer Carol Samson – a teacher at Columbine High School at the time of the 1999 tragedy; and A Woman’s Life (and Love) (2019); a feminist song cycle commissioned as a companion piece to Robert Schumann's Frauenliebe und -leben (A Woman's Love (and Life)); Polar Bear (2021) for trombone, tenor voice, and electronics, about climate change and commissioned in part by the Ohio Arts Council, the Johnstone Fund for New Music, and Puffin Foundation West Ltd; and Meadowlark (2021), a chamber piece commissioned by the Meadowlark Trio in Portland, Oregon.
Originally from Nassau County, New York, Dr. Graef earned her Bachelor of Music degree in flute performance and composition from Southern Methodist University, and her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts in composition from the University of Southern California. She has been on the faculty of the Cal State LA Department of Music since 2000, where she teaches theory and musicianship, composition-related coursework, and a diverse, current-events-oriented GE course about Women in Music. She founded the Composer/Performer Collective (CPC) at Cal State LA in 2012, aimed at enabling student composers and performers to collaborate throughout the process of writing and performing a new piece and presenting a concert at the end of each term, and she directs the CSULA New Music Ensemble. Dr. Graef strongly believes in programming music by diverse composers and about music as a platform for advocacy through art as part of her teaching and mentorship. In 2022 she received the Cal State LA Outstanding Professor Award.
Dr. Graef served as the President of Friends of Music at Cal State L.A. for seven years, helping to raise money for scholarships for Cal State L.A. music majors, and has served on the board of the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Composers Forum. Dr. Graef previously taught at the University of Southern California and Whittier College.
In addition to her work in music, Dr. Graef is passionate about traveling and nature, and served for several years as the Stranding Coordinator for the Alaska Whale Foundation - a non-profit research organization in Southeast Alaska. Her greatest passion project is spending time with her family and learning about life from her brilliant daughter.