Since meeting as students of Sally O’Reilly at the University of Minnesota, our careers as teachers and performers have taken us throughout the Midwest, across the country, and around the globe.
We currently maintain active playing careers in the Twin Cities area and are passionate about sharing our experiences and expertise with our private students and future generations of performers in many settings.
A Twin Cities native, Emily Saathoff began playing the violin at the age of six, eventually going on to receive a Bachelor’s degree in violin performance from the University of Minnesota where she studied with Sally O’Reilly. Since 2013, she has been first prize winner in the most senior division of the Schubert Club scholarship competition and Mary West String Competition, as well as winning second place in the Thursday Musical Competition. Resulting from her participation in the Mary West competition, she appeared as a featured soloist with the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra, performing the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto.
Emily performs throughout the year with local groups including the Minnesota Opera, Minnesota Sinfonia, Minnesota Oratorio Society, Minneapolis Pops, and Music St. Croix. She previously served as Concertmaster of the Mankato Symphony Orchestra for eight seasons. Emily also enjoys participating in the wide variety of freelance performance opportunities that the Twin Cities offers. She is part of the music faculty at University of Northwestern St. Paul, and teaches a private studio out of her home in New Brighton.
Zachary Saathoff is a performing violinist and educator in the Twin Cities area, where he has been based off-and-on since beginning his undergraduate studies at the age of 16 with Sally O’Reilly. In addition to eventually receiving Master’s degrees in both violin performance and music theory from the University of Minnesota, he was awarded a Fulbright grant to study for two years in Graz, Austria with Yair Kless, during which time he performed concerts throughout Austria and Germany.
Upon completing his studies, Zachary served as Concertmaster of the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra for three seasons, appearing with the orchestra as a featured soloist and in numerous chamber programs.
He thereafter returned to Minnesota on a full-time basis where he teaches privately and as an instructor with the Totino-Grace Fine Arts Academy, in addition to actively performing with numerous orchestral and chamber ensembles throughout the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota.
Zachary currently lives in New Brighton, where he happily shares his teaching space with spouse/frequent double act Emily, golden retriever/studio mascot Henry, and daughters Adalind and Charlotte.
