Sarah Hanniffy

Biography

Sarah Hanniffy is an Irish violist currently studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow. 

She began her studies on the viola at the age of four. She joined Galway Youth Orchestra at the age of seven and played with them for ten years, being principal violist for seven years. She made her debut at the National Concert Hall, Dublin at the age of ten. Sarah has played for the Festival of Youth Orchestras on numerous occasions and for multiple musicals as a pit musician.

Sarah began studying under Andreea Banciu in 2017. Sarah was a founding member of the Limerick Philharmonic Orchestra and the Symphonic Waves Orchestra, made for the Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture as deputy principal.

In 2018, she became a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland and the Ulster Youth Orchestra.In 2019, Sarah became a founding member of the Galway Traditional Orchestra as principal violist and was also invited to perform with NYO Wales. In 2021, she was the principal violist of the NYO Scotland.

In 2020, Sarah was awarded with the Eimear Noonan Award of Excellence and in 2021, the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Instrument Purchase Grant.

Sarah has performed in concerts across Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Austria, Slovakia and the Netherlands and has worked under prestigious musicians and conductors such as, Andrew Litton, Gearoid Grant, Tung-Chieh Chang, Christian Vasquez, Robert Houlihan, Courtney Lewis, Sinead Hayes, James Cavanagh, Stephen Broom, Lisa Dowdall, William Butt, Joe Csibi, Gordon Bragg, Hector Scott, Sophie Renshaw and Lev Atlas, as well as many more.