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Alumni in Action: One of SAAS’s First Students Shines on Global Stages
March
2026
Alumni in Action: One of SAAS’s First Students Shines on Global Stages
Wendy Sutter is one of five SAAS alumni who will speak at this year's
SAAS in the City
By:
Sarah-Mae McCullough
, Editorial Content Manager
Seattle Academy has grown tremendously since alum Wendy Sutter, a world-renowned cellist and creative entrepreneur, joined the school in 1983.
That was its inaugural year. Wendy, alongside dozens of other students and teachers, had left The Northwest School, which was facing financial challenges, for a rapidly emerging alternative. SAAS was founded in a matter of months to offer something new and much needed to Seattle’s educational landscape: an innovative, urban school preparing kids to shape today’s changing world.
At 16, Wendy was mostly focused on how SAAS would help her pursue her goal of making it big as a classical musician. Its rigorous coursework, emphasis on creativity, and adaptable, supportive environment that encourages kids to pursue their individual passions made it the right fit, she said.
Wendy Sutter attended SAAS during the school's inaugural year, 1983.
But looking back on her high school experience, something different stands out: the boldness of SAAS opening its doors 43 years ago and then becoming what it is today.
“In the spirit of innovation, it was pretty remarkable that these adults were able to put together this school under so much pressure,” Wendy said after a recent campus tour. “That’s a really great example of innovation and passion and courage. The passion those educators had to keep their work going and start a new school—that’s pretty bold. Sometimes you just have to put the dream first.”
Since 1983, Wendy’s dreams have taken her to incredible places. She’s toured with some of the most famous dancers and musicians, launched a successful music festival, and studied at Stanford’s business school. Her own journey exemplifies those same values she used to describe SAAS’s founding: passion, courage, and innovation.
After high school, Wendy studied cello performance at the Curtis Institute of Music and then Juilliard. For nearly two decades, she toured with the preeminent ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov and the influential composer Philip Glass, among other big names. Heralded as “one of the great leading cellists of the classical stage” by the Wall Street Journal, she’s been acclaimed by critics in The New York Times, Strad Magazine, The Washington Post, and other major publications. These days, she plays primarily with the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center.
Over the past few years, her career has opened a new chapter: entrepreneurship. Intrigued by the behind-the-scenes business of the music industry, Wendy attended Stanford University Graduate School of Business, developed an entrepreneurship course specifically for musicians, and built a music festival, Chamber Music at Churchtown, from the ground up.
Wendy Sutter has performed widely on five continents, appearing as a soloist in major orchestras such as The Shanghai Symphony and The Julliard Symphony.
In this new career era, the skills she learned at Stanford have been invaluable: how to pitch concisely, persuade people to support your ideas, and understand the numbers that make your dream a reality. On a tour of SAAS this spring, Wendy was delighted to learn how current students are developing the mindsets and skills of entrepreneurship through the school’s Innovations department, alongside flexing their creativity in a robust arts program. Through SAAS’s annual Business Plan Competition, for example, they practiced developing and pitching their ideas to real, local investors. In courses like Building a Business and Entrepreneurial Leadership, they develop the self-awareness, motivational strategies, and business savvy to make a lasting impact.
“It’s absolutely essential that younger kids have those skills,” Wendy said. “That’s so cool to have that in a high school curriculum and get students’ brains thinking that way. This is so much of what the world is now.”
The ability to pitch and pursue big ideas, and to delve into deep creative work, runs through both Wendy’s career and SAAS’s journey. Wendy lived it as a budding musician, practicing for hours every day, and as an entrepreneur, learning to voice her visions. She watched it at age 16, as SAAS opened its doors for the first time.
“It’s really about the dream,” Wendy said, reflecting on the determination and resourcefulness of SAAS’s founders. “When you have a strong idea and strong passion, things usually work out.”
SAAS In Focus, Vol. 7 (2025)
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