Alum’s music career is fast off the blocks; she says Notre Dame pushed her intellectual boundaries far.
Notre Dame alum Sara Barron ('12) performs at the recent Forge Formal at The Underground (DIME) on Sept. 8, at a celebration of Detroit's golden age of modern jazz.
Her running prowess, however, began at Notre Dame Prep where she lettered all four years in track and earned state championships in the 800 and 1600-meter as a senior. She also was named a High School Heisman winner for the state of Michigan in 2011 and earned the Catholic League’s Walt Bazylewicz Athlete of the Year Award in 2012.
Barron, third from right, received the 2012 Walt Bazylewicz Athlete of the Year Award in a special ceremony at Comerica Park in Detroit.
Music plus writing
After finishing up at Vanderbilt in 2016, she set forth on a journey that explored her one main passion: music. But it wasn’t just about “making” music.
“My degree at Vanderbilt actually was a self-designed interdisciplinary major I called ‘music, marketing and management,’” she said. “I had the option to create a well-rounded curriculum under the supervision of a professor in my school (Arts & Sciences), and present it to the dean to approve as my major. Though the process was tedious, it ended up being the perfect fit for my long-term goals and interests.”
Currently, Barron has just finished her first album of songs that will tentatively drop in November. This comes during a very busy period for her that included working for a bit in Portland, Ore., for Marmoset, a music-licensing agency where she interviewed artists and filmmakers and wrote blogs and features about them for the company’s website.
At Vanderbilt University, Barron broke the university record in the mile and went on to earn numerous SEC and NCAA honors for the Commodores.
Since then she’s had a number of bylines with the Metro Times as well as with The Odyssey and Filmmaking Stuff publications. She’s also in the process of pitching to major national music publications, where she’s hoping to land some nice assignments.
Meanwhile, Barron continues to pursue her true aspiration, which for her began when she was quite young.
“I actually started singing very young, around the age of four,” she said. “I was classically trained in voice from ages eight to 14 and also started writing songs at around eight. Besides being in musicals at Notre Dame and performing at open mics around town while growing up, I wasn't really serious about music as a career until I started school at Vanderbilt.
“And like most 18-year-olds entering university, I was faced with the big question: What did I want to do with my life?”
For Barron, though, music was a no-brainer, she said.
“So from then on, it was just about balancing my running career in college at the same time I was learning as much as I could about songwriting, performing and the business of music.”
Vinyl, CDs and streaming
Now she’s at a point where she has a succinct body of work that she’d like to share with the world. Her upcoming album was recorded at a small studio in Detroit with a producer she met through friends. She said it will be available on vinyl and CD for initial release and then for streaming after a month or so. For more information, check out www.saramariebarron.com.
To be sure, Barron is a busy and talented young lady, who with any luck will have a busy and prosperous career ahead of her.
She’s also well aware that it will take more than just luck and talent: It will take lots of hard work, which, she says, also was a significant factor in getting her through high school and college.
Barron has just finished her first album of songs tentatively scheduled to be released in November.
Barron also had props for her high school experience.
“NDP was a very disciplined school,” she said. “It helped me learn how to prioritize and always be punctual, lest I receive the dreaded 6 a.m. detention. In addition, teachers like Sra. Tessada and Ms. Derico taught me how to push my intellectual boundaries and showed me that I can do anything I put my mind to, and I am very grateful for that.”
Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org.
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.