Levate

Violin

Sarah Thomas is a classically trained, professional violinist based in the Greater Philadelphia area. Born and raised in Philadelphia, she began her violin studies at the age of three and a half. She received her Bachelor of Music, summa cum laude, in violin performance from the University of Tulsa and her Master of Music in violin performance from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. During her time at the University of Tulsa, Sarah was an active chamber musician and concertmaster of the TU Symphony. During her master's degree, Sarah was the principal 2nd violinist of CCM's top orchestra, Philharmonia. While at CCM, she was the 1st violinist in a string quartet coached by the Ariel String Quartet and she also performed in numerous student recitals and other musical collaborations.

Sarah is an alumna of the IES Vienna Music Program, where she spent Fall 2015 studying with Barbara Górzyńska and performing in the Wiener Konzerthaus as a 1st violinist with the Wiener Akademische Philharmonie. She is also an alumna of the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the National Orchestral Institute, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Brevard Music Center. From 2016-2017, she performed with the Signature String Quartet and taught elementary school orchestra in Tulsa Public Schools and was the Beginner Strings Teacher at Sistema Tulsa. During her time in Cincinnati, Sarah cultivated a thriving studio of private students, led group classes and recitals, and was a faculty member of Cincinnati Strings and The Immanuel School of Music. Sarah has performed with The Signature Symphony, The Tulsa Symphony, The Richmond Symphony, and The Kentucky Symphony. Since 2010 she has performed as a freelance violinist for weddings, church services, recording sessions, and other events. In her spare time, Sarah enjoys gardening, tennis, cooking, and spending time with her family.

Cello

Cellist Jacob Ginn enjoys a multifaceted career in music as both a performer and educator. A specialist in Suzuki pedagogy, Jacobleads the Suzuki cello programs at Germantown Academy and Settlement Music School’s Tapestry Strings. He has completed Suzuki teacher training with Susan Gagnon, Trina Carry Hodgson, and Zachary Sweet. He serves as cello coach for Philadelphia Youth Orchestra Music Institute’s Prysm Strings division. Also active as a performer, Jacob appears as a recitalist and freelance orchestral musician throughout Greater Philadelphia. He has performed with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra and the Maryland Symphony Orchestra. While in Arizona, Jacob often appeared with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Tucson Pops, West Valley Symphony, and Grammy-nominated True Concord. He is the former cellist of the Michie String Quartet at the University of Utah, current cellist of the New World Trio, and excited to join the Levate Piano Trio in 2025. 

Originally from Chandler, Arizona, Jacob holds degrees from the University of Arizona and the University of Utah. He was named a Presser Foundation Scholar in 2018. His major teachers include John Eckstein (Utah Symphony) and Dr. Theodore Buchholz, and he has been fortunate to play in masterclasses for cellists and ensembles such as Matt Haimovitz, Philippe Muller, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, and the Juilliard String Quartet. He furthered his studies during the summers at the Round Top Festival Institute and Texas Music Festival, where he was mentored by cellists Stephen Balderston, Emilio Colón, and Lachezar Kostov. In 2018, Jacobwas a fellow at the Britt Music and Arts Festival in Medford, Oregon.

When not playing the cello, Jacob is passionate about exploring Philadelphia’s many amazing restaurants and, whenever he can, hiking across the Mountain West.

Piano

Acclaimed for his masterful command of technique and sound, Nathan Knutson is particularly noted as an interpreter of a vast range of musical genres “...allowing him to be versatile, understanding and equally comfortable with composers and styles that are very different, making his rendition of a wide variety of repertoire natural, thoughtful, and very musical.”

Earning highest marks in chamber music and solo performance, Dr. Knutson holds a Doctorate in Sacred Music, a Master's degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music and a Bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he studied with internationally renowned faculty including Paul Barnes, Antonio Pompa-Baldi and Emanuela Friscioni. As a consequence of his competitive success as a young artist by the age of 17, Knutson made his orchestral debut with the South Dakota Symphony in a series of four concerts of Rachmaninoff’s 2nd piano concerto.

As chamber musician, Nathan has coached with notable artists including the late Leon Fleischer, Paul Kantor, Virginia Weckstrom, Michael Tilson-Thomas, and John Corigliano. Additionally, Mr. Knutson attributes much of his technique to his teacher’s teachers: Joseph and Rosina Lhevinne, in pedagogical lineage with Rachmaninoff, Rubenstein, and Scriabin.

As seminary professor, Dr. Knutson holds the Francesco Chair of Sacred Music at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary (Philadelphia) and teaches a wide variety of courses in Church music, with particular focus on “Singing the Mass”, the pipe organ, Gregorian chant and Sacred polyphony.

Together with his wife, also a church musician, they are blessed with six children, and administer the Domenico Zipoli Institute for religious missions.