“I identify as me.” That’s how pianist Sara Davis Buechner described her identity for Proud to Be, YourClassical’s profiles of LGBTQ+ artists in classical music. Buechner was among the first transgender musicians to share her story publicly, first in 1998 for a New York Times Magazine profile, more recently in a one-woman play with music, Of Pigs and Pianos, which she performed to acclaim in New York City, and in Minneapolis at Jungle Theater last fall.

Buechner, now a piano professor at Temple University in Philadelphia, returns to Minnesota this weekend for a Friday recital and Saturday master class at Carleton College, where she’ll pass on her authentic wisdom to music lovers and students.

“When you are authentic, you communicate with people on the highest plane,” Buechner says. “To transmit music to people on a plane that’s even higher than language demands to be true to yourself. And then it asks of the listeners to be true to themselves.”

This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment‘s Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.