Sarah Neufeld (born August 27, 1979) is a Canadian

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist who is known for her work with

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member S ...

, with whom she is a former core member and currently a touring member. She has contributed to each of the band's studio albums, to date. Neufeld is also a member of the instrumental band

Bell Orchestre Bell Orchestre is a six-piece instrumental band from Montreal. It was formed in 1999 by multi-instrumentalist Richard Parry and violinist Sarah Neufeld. Both also joined Arcade Fire. They were joined in Bell Orchestre by Michael Feuerstack (ste ...

. Neufeld has released three solo studio albums: ''Hero Brother'' (2013), ''The Ridge'' (2016) and ''Detritus'' (2021), and released a collaborative album, '' Never Were the Way She Was'', with her husband

Colin Stetson Colin Stetson (born March 3, 1975) is a Canadian-American saxophonist, multireedist, and composer based in Montreal. He is best known as a regular collaborator of the indie rock acts Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, Bell Orchestre, and Ex Eye. In additio ...

in 2015.

Early life

Started playing the violin under the

Suzuki method The Suzuki method is a music curriculum and teaching philosophy dating from the mid-20th century, created by Japanese violinist and pedagogue Shinichi Suzuki (1898–1998). The method aims to create an environment for learning music which para ...

when she was 3 years old. During her teenage years, she 'quit' violin and started playing the guitar to "learn all the Hendrix solos". After realizing her facility with the instrument, she picked up the violin once again during her university years. She says that her time away from the classical rigmarole, helped her take a more relaxed approach when collaborating with others. During her time in the Music Department at

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

, Montreal, she formed

, a group influenced by the likes of

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, a ...

Penguin Cafe Orchestra The Penguin Cafe Orchestra (PCO) were an avant-pop band led by English guitarist Simon Jeffes. Co-founded with cellist Helen Liebmann, it toured extensively during the 1980s and 1990s. The band's sound is not easily categorized, having elemen ...

and

Tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a turtle shell, shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, ...

. Eventually, her playing with Bell Orchestre led to an invitation for her to play with the band

Career

Arcade Fire

Neufeld was a core member of the band on its second and third studio albums, ''

Neon Bible ''Neon Bible'' is the second studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire. It was first released on March 5, 2007, in Europe and a day later in North America by Merge Records. Originally announced on December 16, 2006, through the band's ...

'' (2007) and ''

The Suburbs ''The Suburbs'' is the third studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on August 2, 2010. Coinciding with its announcement, the band released a limited edition 12-inch single containing the title track and "Month of May".

'' (2010), and contributed as an additional musician on the albums ''

Funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

'' (2004), ''

Reflektor ''Reflektor'' is the fourth studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on October 28, 2013, through Sonovox Records internationally and Merge Records in the United States. A double album, it was recorded between 2011 and 2 ...

'' (2013), ''

Everything Now ''Everything Now'' is the fifth studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on July 28, 2017, through Sonovox Records (physical release), Columbia Records, and Rough Trade Records. It was produced by Arcade Fire, alongside T ...

'' (2017) and WE (2022) and their subsequent tours.

Other groups

Neufeld is also a member of the

post rock Post Rock may refer to: * Post-rock, a form of experimental rock music * Post Rock (South Georgia) Elsehul (also Paddocks Cove, Else Cove, Elsie Bay, Elsa Bay, Else's Hole, and Else Bay) is a bay along the north coast of South Georgia Island in th ...

band

, alongside

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and more efficient employment of musicians, where ...

Richard Reed Parry Richard Reed Parry (born October 4, 1977) is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, best known as a core member of the Grammy Award-winning indie rock band Arcade Fire, where he plays a wide variety of instruments, often switching ...

and former Arcade Fire member

Pietro Amato Pietro Amato is a French horn player with the rock bands Torngat, Bell Orchestre, and The Luyas. He has also performed with Arcade Fire. Career In 2001, Amato, along with keyboardist Mathieu Charbonneau and percussionist Julien Poissant, form ...

. At age 18, she moved from East Vancouver to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, with electronic artist

Tim Hecker Tim Hecker is a Canadian electronic musician, producer, composer, and sound artist. His work, spanning atmospheric ambient albums such as ''Harmony in Ultraviolet'' (2006), ''Ravedeath, 1972'' (2011) and ''Virgins'' (2013), has been widely cr ...

, where she subsequently joined both bands. She currently lives in Montreal between tours. In 2009, Neufeld joined

The Luyas The Luyas are a Canadian indie rock band formed in 2006 from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. History The Luyas did their first live performance in December 2006. Their first album, ''Faker Death'' came out in August 2007, and was re-released in Januar ...

Solo

Neufeld released her first solo album, ''Hero Brother'', in 2013, and released a collaborative studio album, '' Never Were the Way She Was'', with fellow Arcade Fire collaborator

in 2015. In 2016, Neufeld released her second solo album, ''The Ridge'' on Paper Bag records. The album features Arcade Fire drummer

Jeremy Gara Jeremy Gara (born June 6, 1978) is a Canadian drummer from Ottawa, Ontario. He is most well known as the drummer of the band Arcade Fire. Gara is an active performer in a number of other projects, including work as a solo performer. Career Ga ...

. ''The Ridge'' sees Neufeld incorporate more vocals than her previous record, ''Hero Brother''.

Score work

Neufeld and her husband, saxophonist

, composed the score to the 2013 film ''

Blue Caprice ''Blue Caprice'' is a 2013 American independent drama film directed by Alexandre Moors, and based on the 2002 D.C. sniper attacks. The film stars Isaiah Washington and Tequan Richmond as the perpetrators of the attacks, John Allen Muhammad and Le ...

''.

Discography

Solo

Studio albums *''Hero Brother'' (2013) *'' Never Were the Way She Was'' (2015, with

) *''The Ridge'' (2016) *''Detritus'' (2021)

Arcade Fire

*''

'' (2004) *''

'' (2007) *''

'' (2010) *''

'' (2013) *''

'' (2017) *'' We'' (2022)

Bell Orchestre

*''

Recording a Tape the Colour of the Light ''Recording a Tape the Colour of the Light'' is the debut release of Montreal-based instrumental act Bell Orchestre. On the back of the album, the track listing includes a track set off from the rest called (frost). On the iTunes Music Store ...

'' (2005) *''

As Seen Through Windows ''As Seen Through Windows'' is the second album by Canadian band Bell Orchestre. It was recorded at Soma Electric Studios in Chicago, IL (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interact ...

'' (2009) *''

House Music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

'' (2021)

References

External links

* Bell Orchestre bioon

allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neufeld, Sarah 1979 births Living people People from Courtenay, British Columbia Canadian rock violinists Canadian indie rock musicians Musicians from British Columbia Arcade Fire members Grammy Award winners Juno Award for Instrumental Album of the Year winners 21st-century Canadian violinists and fiddlers Bell Orchestre members Paper Bag Records artists Canadian women violinists and fiddlers