Music is Medicine.

Sarah Elizabeth Burkey has performed in 19 countries and throughout the US...



Performance History

2021 
  • Calliope Stage--Sylva, North Carolina
2019
  • Chickasaw Nation Festival--Tishomingo, Oklahoma
  • Cherokee Indian Fair--Cherokee, North Carolina
  • Indigenous Peoples Day--Louisville, Kentucky
  • 45th Annual Mountain Heritage Day at Western Carolina University--Cullowhee, North Carolina

2018
  • 37th Annual Summer Evening in Webster concert series, ol' time Ballad Singing--Webster, North Carolina
  • Mountain Heritage Center Women's History Concert w/ Susan Pepper, Western Carolina University--Cullowhee, North Carolina
  • Russell Cave National Monument Storytelling Festival--Bridgeport, Alabama
  • 44th Annual Mountain Heritage Day, Western Carolina University--Cullowhee, North Carolina
2017
  • Muddy Creek Songwriter's Festival w/ Malcome Holcome--Winston-Salem, North Carolina
  • 43rd Annual Mountain Heritage Day at Western Carolina University--Cullowhee, North Carolina
  • Jackson County Public Library Concert Series--Sylva, North Carolina
2016
  • Storytelling Festival hosted by the National Park Service at Russell Cave National Monument--Bridgeport, AL
  • Muddy Creek Music Hall--Winston-Salem, North Carolina

2014
  • Tsalagi Touring Program presenting traditional Cherokee dance & crafts. Perpetuating Cherokee Culture through the arts.
  • Cultural Preservation at Oconaluftee Indian Village, Qualla Boundary Cherokee Indian Reservation.
  • Assistant Music Director for The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Cherokee Historical Association, dedicated to perpetuating and preserving the history and culture of the Cherokee People. 
  • "Unto These Hills" the second longest running outdoor drama in the US--Cherokee, North Carolina.
2013
  • Featured Performer at The 2013 Kentucky Storytelling Conference, a National Storytelling Network Regional Spotlight Event, Greenbo Lake State Resort Park, Greenup, Kentucky--November 2013.
  • Assistant Music Director for The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Cherokee Historical Association, dedicated to perpetuating and preserving the history and culture of the Cherokee People. 
  • Actress & Singer for "Unto These Hills" the second longest running outdoor drama in the US--Cherokee, North Carolina.
  • World Premiere of "Cat on the Roof" presented by Mountainside Theatre.  A musical comedy by Billy Edd Wheeler (Nashville Songwriter's International Hall of Fame). Cherokee, North Carolina--August 2013. 
2012
  • Ms. Burkey was appointed by the governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky to serve as a commissioner on the Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission--effective February 8, 2012
  • Sarah Elizabeth Burkey has been honored with an Artist Enrichment Grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women to compose songs inspired by the wisdom and life experiences of the International Council of Indigenous Grandmothers. The completed music and lyrics will illuminate the contributions of Native Women Elders, who are strong feminist role models, environmental activists, and cultural preservationists.
  • Good Folk Fest Crafty Resourcefulness Art & Music Celebration  Louisville, Kentucky--November 2012
  • 17th Annual Festival of Faiths: Sacred Fire  Louisville, Kentucky--November 2012
  • Smithsonian Exhibit "New Harmonies" Celebrating American Roots Music  Lebanon, Kentucky--October 2012
  • "Sacred Fire Blazes for Peace" by Sarah Elizabeth Burkey Published in Sacred Fire: Light of Compassion Center for Interfaith Relations 2012
  • The Discovery Lodge at Burdette Park and House Concert Series  Evansville, Indiana--May 2012
  • Lowertown Arts & Music Festival  Paducah, Kentucky--May 2012
  • Groundbreaking House Concert with Ben Sollee in Louisville, Kentucky--Feb 2012
  • Hopkinsville & Christian County High School Assemblies sponsored by Pennyroyal Arts Council  Hopkinsville, KY--Feb 2012
2011
  • International Tour, Portugal and Spain--August 2011
  • featured in the 2011 Official Kentucky Visitor's Guide published by The Kentucky Department of Travel and Tourism
  • 16th Annual Festival of Faiths: Sacred Air Breath of Life  Louisville, Kentucky--November 2011
  • 14th Annual Pennington Folk Festival in Princeton, Kentucky--June 2011
  • 23rd Annual Nebraska Children's Groundwater Festival in Grand Island, NE sponsored by Central Platte Natural Resources District--May 2011
  • Native American Heritage Concert with Tony Redhouse at Campbellsville University sponsored by Central Kentucky Arts Series--April 2011
  • 20 yrs of Cultivating Connections with Matthew Fox, Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church & First Unitarian Church Louisville, KY--Feb 2011
2010
  • 15th Annual Festival of Faiths: Sacred Soil Foundation of Life, Louisville, Kentucky--November 2010
  • Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games at the Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, Kentucky--September 2010
  • Sarah Elizabeth Burkey & Nathan Blake Lynn on KY Homefront featuring stories & songs of McCracken County Kentucky
  • Lowertown Arts & Music Festival Paducah, Kentucky--May 2010
  • 22nd Annual Nebraska Children's Groundwater Festival in Grand Island, NE sponsored by Central Platte Natural Resources District--May 2010
2009
  • Kentucky Homefront one-hour Radio Show taped before  a live audience at the Clifton Center, Louisville--December 2009
  • Ivy Tech Diversity Fair, Sellersburg, Indiana--December 2009
  • Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky--November 2009
  • 14th Annual Festival of Faiths: Sacred Water--The Cathedral of the Assumption & Brown-Forman Ampitheater, Louisville, KY--Nov 2009
  • Idea Festival, Kentucky Center for the Arts, Louisville, Kentucky--September 2009
  • 21c Museum, International Contemporary Art Foundation, Louisville, Kentucky--June 2009

2007
  • London International Poetry & Song Festival, London, England--November 2007
  • Kentucky Center for the Arts, Don't Die Yet album release concert, Louisville, Kentucky--October 2007
  • Fundraiser for the Rudyard Kipling w/ Jim James of My Morning Jacket & Ron Whitehead, Louisville, Kentucky--June 2007
  • The International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers, The Sacred Black Hills of South Dakota--June 2007
  • Northern California Tour, radio shows on KMUD, KZYX, KRSH--March 2007
  • City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, Buddhist Monastery & School, Talmage, California--March 2007
  • Portugal Tour, performed w/ traditional Fado musicians, Portuguese dancers & gypsy violinist, Portugal--February 2007
2006 and...
  • Keynote Speaker & Featured Performer at 8th Annual Women of Appalachia Conference, Ohio University--October 2006
  • Book release Western Ky: Lost & Forgotten, Found & Remembered by Sarah Elizabeth Burkey & Ron Whitehead--May 2006
  • Campbellsville University Convocation, Campbellsville, Kentucky--October 2005
  • Lenoir-Rhyne College, Hickory, North Carolina--September 2004
  • Singletary Center for the Arts, Lexington, Kentucky--August 2004