Sarah Fritz is a public musicologist, mezzo-soprano, and the creator of the Clara Schumann Channel platform. Her forthcoming biography of Clara Schumann entitled MADAME COMPOSER will be published by Pegasus Books in late 2026 or early 2027. She is represented by Elias Altman at Massie & McQuilkin Literary Agents.
Sarah appears in the new documentary Mozart’s Sister, premiering at international film festivals and on PBS in 2024 (watch the trailer). Her writings on Clara Schumann are in numerous publications including the New York Times and VAN Magazine. As an in-demand guest speaker and lecturer, she has presented her research for places such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, WWFM The Classical Network, Northeastern University, and the launch of the Cambridge University Press’s Clara Schumann Studies. Her passionate advocacy for marginalized composers on social media seeks to change the dialogue around classical music, challenging the misbelief that all great composers in history were cis white men.
The Clara Schumann Channel is a blog resource, along with popular social media platforms on X-Twitter, Instagram, newsletter, and YouTube, dedicated to debunking myths around the infamous Madame Schumann. The platform is followed by radio hosts, academics, music industry professionals, and classical music fans around the world. With overlooked research and a modern feminist lens, Sarah places Clara Schumann’s life and music within the context of popular history. Her fresh perspective challenges traditional narratives around Clara’s composer status in the classical music canon, her professional influence on her husband Robert and her “beloved friend” Johannes Brahms, and the role of women in music history.
Her platform is studied in public musicology courses, and her articles are quoted in program notes and academic publications. She holds an M.M. from the Eastman School of Music, a B.M. from Westminster Choir College, and also teaches on the faculty of the Westminster Conservatory, Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey.
Please contact Sarah Fritz via email at ClaraSchumannChannel at gmail dot com for writing program notes, speaking engagements, and other consults inquiries. Her specialty topics include the status of women composers in classical music, the composers Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms, along with the general history of German Romantic music.
What distinguishes Fritz’s work is the way in which she writes openly about Clara Schumann’s life and art debunking myths and capturing the wonders of her artistry in ways at once engaging and accessible, intellectual and empathetic. That her tweets and articles speak to a wide audience across scholarship, performance, and the industry pays testament to Fritz’s eminence as both an educator and interlocutor.
Joe Davies, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellow, University of California, Irvine & Maynooth University
Editor of Clara Schumann Studies from Cambridge University Press
Links to Articles, Lectures, and Interviews
MADAME COMPOSER, a forthcoming biography about Clara Schumann
New York Times article: “Clara Schumann and Florence Price Get Their Due at Carnegie Hall”
Philadelphia Orchestra’s pre-concert talk on Clara Wieck-Schumann’s Piano Concerto
Presentation at the launch of Clara Schumann Studies from Cambridge University Press, March 2022 (Sarah’s presentation begins at the video’s one hour mark.)
Interview on WWFM The Classical Network
“Advocating for the music of Clara Schumann” for VAN Magazine
“Did Clara Schumann believe women shouldn’t compose?” for the Donne Foundation
Mozart’s Sister documentary trailer
Signup for the newsletter to receive Clara Schumann Channel updates in your inbox. For the regular tweet digest, follow her X-Twitter account @sarahfritzwritr. The Clara Schumann Channel is also on Instagram and YouTube.
Performance Bio
Under her singer hat as mezzo-soprano, Sarah Fritz-Sensenig sings in the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Symphonic Choir, including performances of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis at Carnegie Hall and the world premiere of Puts’s The Hours. She debuted with the New York Lyric Opera Theatre in the title role of Handel’s Alcina, and her other operatic roles include Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Cosí fan tutte, Valencienne in The Merry Widow, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Nancy in Albert Herring, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, and Dido in Dido and Aeneas. She enjoys giving recitals with her pianist husband, especially singing the Lieder of her favorite composer, Clara Schumann.
There’s nothing I love more than answering questions about the endlessly fascinating Clara Schumann. My DMs are open on all social media platforms! Please contact me or email me at claraschumannchannel@gmail.com. The Clara Schumann Channel is an expanding project, also on TikTok, BlueSky @sarahfritz, Threads @sarahfritzwritr, and Reddit.
If you’re a Clara newbie, start here: How Clara Schumann Changed History.
The Clara Schumann Channel 