Artistic Directors
Trace Johnson
Wisconsin-native Trace Johnson is a cellist known for his effortless musicality and rich cello tone. Johnson has appeared as a chamber musician, soloist, and orchestral musician in various settings in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Canada, China, and the United States. Equally at home teaching in the studio or performing on stage, Johnson is a devoted and thoughtful communicator who enjoys a varied career as a cellist, teacher, and musician. Johnson has held cello positions with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Sarasota Orchestra, Sarasota Opera, Juneau Symphony Orchestra, and Miami City Ballet. He has recently appeared with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Present Music, Florentine Opera, Candlelight, Madison New Music Festival, LunART, Arthaus Orchestra,, and Artosphere Festival Orchestra. In 2025, PARMA/Albany Records released Johnson's debut album Works for Cello , which featured a premiere cello work, Limbic Notes, by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Melinda Wagner. Trace is a regular performer and presenter at the Eastern Shore Chamber Music Festival in Fairhope, AL, where he is one of two co-artistic directors.
Sahada Buckley
Artistic Director Sahada Buckley is a violinist, violist and inter-disciplinary artist whose diverse career has led to many meaningful collaborations. Sahada has collaborated with many notable classical musicians including faculty from UCLA, Michigan State University, and the Pro Arte String Quartet. Additionally, she has worked closely with acclaimed composers like David Ludwig, Michael Ippolito, Laura Schwendinger, Mason Bates, George Meyer and Will Healy. Sahada was appointed in September 2024 to the first violin section of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and plays viola in the The Ancora String Quartet. Sahada and her husband, Trace Johnson, recently recorded the Schulhoff Duo for Violin and Cello on Parma Records which was released on CD in July 2025. Recently, Sahada has performed with groups such as Present Music, Oakwood Chamber Players, Midsummers Music, and Florentine Opera. Sahada is an active teacher and has a full studio of violin and viola students in Madison, WI teaching for the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra. Sahada received her Master of Music Degree in Violin Performance from the University of Wisconsin – Madison where she was a member of the graduate string quartet, the Marvin Rabin String Quartet. Sahada earned dual Bachelor of Music Degrees in Violin Performance and Music Theory from the University of Georgia where she studied with Levon Ambartsumian. She won first prize at the University of Georgia Concerto Competition performing Édouard Lalo’s Violin Concerto “Symphonie Espagnole” in 2018. She has performed in major venues across the United States and abroad in Brazil, London, and Singapore. An avid hiker, Sahada through-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2019 with a violin in her backpack.