Rebecca Sacks

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Rebecca Sacks is a Boston-based composer, music theory teacher, and piano teacher. For information about her piano studio, please see the "Piano Lessons" page. Her compositions have been performed throughout the United States, France and Spain by ensembles such as the Talea Ensemble, the Talujon Percussion Group, members of the Radnofsky Saxophone Quartet, the University of Alabama's Percussion Ensemble (directed by Tim Feeney), members of the Genkin Philharmonic, the Tufts University Chamber Singers and the Tufts University Concert Choir (under both Andrew Clark and Jamie Kirsch), Tufts’ West African Percussion Ensemble, the Mockingbird Trio, the Cardamom String Quartet, and the Cantata Singers of Elmira, NY, as well as other freelance musicians in the Boston area. Rebecca's solo piano piece for Thomas Stumpf is included on his 2017 CD with Albany Records entitled "Reflections on Time and Mortality." Fanfare Magazine describes this work as “almost a single line that weaves over a wide range, and suggests a dream of jazz.” Rebecca received an MFA in composition and theory from Brandeis University, and she graduated from Tufts University with a BA in Music (summa cum laude).

In 2002, Rebecca Sacks attended the European American Musical Alliance (EAMA) Summer Composition Program at the Schola Cantorum in Paris, where she studied counterpoint, harmony, and analysis in the tradition of Nadia Boulanger. In 2005, Rebecca received the Etta and Harry Winokur Award for Outstanding Achievement in Artistic or Scholarly Work from the Tufts Music Department. In 2007, she was a finalist at the Ithaca College Choral Composition Festival for her composition “The Mirror,” which was performed the previous year in Spain by the Tufts Chamber Singers. Her compositions have been described as having "hauntingly beautiful chord combinations" (The Tufts Daily).

Rebecca has a background in piano (classical and jazz), choral music, classical and jazz voice, and West African music of the Ewe tribe (of Ghana and Togo). From 2006-2008, she was a member of the Agbekor Society, and she sang the lead part during their performances of Agbadza. She has sung with Chorus pro Musica and has played piano in Arlington-based jazz bands. While at Brandeis, Rebecca studied composition with Melinda Wagner, Martin Boykan (emeritus professor), Eric Chasalow and Yu-Hui Chang. As an undergraduate at Tufts, she studied composition with John McDonald (her mentor), music theory with Janet Schmalfeldt, and West African music with David Locke. In addition to teaching private piano lessons since 2008, Rebecca is the music theory instructor at Powers Music School (Belmont, MA), where she teaches classes and lessons for students of all ages.

Aside from her music, Rebecca has practiced mindfulness meditation since 2001. Her non-musical mentor is Tara Brach, an internationally known meditation teacher. Rebecca is the founder of a meditation group that emphasizes mindful dialogue, which she began in 2007.