Sara O'Brien

“Sara O’Brien, a singer-songwriter, who is also a certified yoga, Pilates and kick-boxing instructor – narrowly escaped death when the house she was living in 2006 was engulfed in flames due to a faulty lamp. O’Brien, who plays cello and guitar, said she woke up unexpectedly at 3:30 a.m. Aug. 11 realizing “something was dreadfully wrong.” She and her roommate escaped the smoke and flame engulfed house through a second story window. O’Brien actually jumped onto a trampoline below.” - Nicole Pensiero, Courier-Post Newspaper
Her music touches the heartstrings of kids as young as 3 and as old as 80, telling stories about the humor and tragedies of life, our rites of passage, and her many travel experiences from the flatlands of the Midwest, to Key West, to the shores of South America.
Sara grew up in New Jersey. At age eighteen she moved away to attend college at the Ohio State University in Columbus, OH. There she became the lead singer and lyricist of IRIS an original alternative rock band. Sara released two albums with IRIS, Looking at the Other Three and 807 Wesley Road. Years later, her love of music and warmer winters lured her south to Athens, GA where she immediately became immersed in the local music and arts scene. There she fronted her own original folk rock band and released her third album titled, Play It By Ear.
She has devoted herself to creating opportunities through music to educate on social, health, and community issues. She graduated from the University of Georgia with a B.A. degree in Cross-Cultural Education through the Arts and currently applies this method in teaching workshops in schools, homes and community centers throughout New Jersey and the Philadelphia area. In 1999, Sara founded BreastFest, a non-profit, fundraising, music festival and health awareness initiative in honor of her mother, Tyanna O’Brien, who died of breast cancer in 1990. Since its inception, BreastFest has been held in Athens, GA, Clemson, SC, Baltimore, MD, New York, NY and Haddon Township, NJ. A percentage of the proceeds from Trampoline sales benefit BreastFest’s patient care projects.
You can find her most days in South Jersey at Studio LuLoo, a creative, performing & healing arts center she founded in her hometown of Haddon Township, NJ. You can visit Studio LuLoo's myspace page here:
Her most recent album, Trampoline, is currently being played on over 200 college radio stations across the country. Sara has appeared in the NY Times, and has feature stories in the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Style Magazine. While performing in New Jersey she is supported by her band: Steve Goldstein on guitar, Gabriel Cifuni on bass and Sante Cerini on drums.
“Life in like a trampoline, you’ll always bounce back, bounce higher or find firm ground to land upon, and in the midst of the heaviness, there is happiness, humor and joy to be found in jumping.” xoxo, s.o’b