Shawn Sanders

 
A founding member of Strings Attached, Shawn Sanders is a much sought-after cellist in Austin and Central Texas. In addition to an active performing career, he also teaches privately and is a faculty member at Temple College, Texas Lutheran University and Austin Community College. Holding degrees from DePauw University, Eastman School of Music, and The University of Texas at Austin, Sanders has played with such artists as Luciano Pavarotti, Yo Yo Ma, Claudio Arrau, Joshua Bell, Janos Starker, and many others, including Ray Charles, Willie Nelson, John Denver, Don Henley, Smokey Robinson, and Dionne Warwick. His career has also found him playing, touring and recording with the Synfonieorkestern Norrkoping in Sweden, a member of Ibycus Chamber Ensemble in Thailand, and was a founding member of the Texas Bach Aria Group and the Camilli Quartet in Austin, Texas. Sanders appears on Strings Attached's self-titled cd released in 2000. He is also credited with an arrangement and performances on Sara Hickman's 2002 release, entitled Faithful Heart.

Sanders performs with Will Taylor's American Roots program for Austin-area students, amazing kids by improvising cello solos on Jimi Hendrix's "Manic Depression," among other masterful surprises. A naturalized Texan, Sanders currently divides his time between performing, teaching, composing and arranging, two dogs, and restoring a 1920s-era house. Sanders' association with Will Taylor dates back over 20 years, with the elder usually reminding the younger to behave himself in the U.T. String Project for talented young musicians (some things never change).

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