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

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

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 Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

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

, 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. 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 in 2015. In 2024, Neufeld released the collaborative album, ''First Sounds'', with her Arcade Fire and Bell Orchestre bandmate Richard Reed Parry and cellist Rebecca Foon.

Early life

Started playing the violin under the

Suzuki method The Suzuki method is a mid-20th-century music curriculum and teaching method created by Japanese violinist and pedagogue Shinichi Suzuki. The method claims to create a reinforcing environment for learning music for young learners. Backgroun ...

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 () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

, Montreal, she formed Bell Orchestre, a group influenced by the likes of

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

, Penguin Cafe Orchestra and

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

. 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'' (2007) and ''

The Suburbs ''The Suburbs'' is the third studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on August 3, 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'' (2013), '' Everything Now'' (2017) and WE (2022) and their subsequent tours.

Other groups

Neufeld is also a member of the

post rock Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings with electronics a ...

band Bell Orchestre, alongside

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments, often but not exclusively at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as woodwind doubler, doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and mor ...

Richard Reed Parry and former Arcade Fire member Pietro Amato. At age 18, she moved from East Vancouver to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, with electronic artist Tim Hecker, where she subsequently joined both bands. She currently lives in Montreal between tours. In 2009, Neufeld joined The Luyas.

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 Colin Stetson in 2015. In 2016, Neufeld released her second solo album, ''The Ridge'' on Paper Bag records. The album features Arcade Fire drummer Jeremy Gara. ''The Ridge'' sees Neufeld incorporate more vocals than her previous record, ''Hero Brother''.

Score work

Neufeld and her husband, saxophonist Colin Stetson, composed the score to the 2013 film '' Blue Caprice''.

Discography

Solo

Studio albums *''Hero Brother'' (2013) *'' Never Were the Way She Was'' (2015) (with Colin Stetson) *''The Ridge'' (2016) *''Detritus'' (2021) *''First Sounds'' (2024) (with Richard Reed Parry & Rebecca Foon)

Arcade Fire

*''

'' (2004) *'' Neon Bible'' (2007) *''

'' (2010) *'' Reflektor'' (2013) *'' Everything Now'' (2017) *'' We'' (2022)

Bell Orchestre

*'' Recording a Tape the Colour of the Light'' (2005) *'' As Seen Through Windows'' (2009) *''House Music'' (2021)

References

External links

* Bell Orchestre bioon

allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

{{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