Originally from Huntington Beach, California, Sara Zoe Budnik is a classically trained vocalist who is performing at the Savannah Voice Festival this year. Budnik spent years living and working in New York, but relocated to Savannah with her husband during the pandemic. She was first introduced to the Hostess City back in 2020 when she was participating in an annual vocal competition held by the American Traditions Vocal Collection.
“I made it to the semi-final round and the week that the competition took place, my entire family got to come and visit Savannah,” said Bostick. Savannah would soon become one of her favorite places because that same week, her then boyfriend proposed to her in front of the iconic fountain at Forsyth Park. Shortly thereafter, the pandemic started and Budnik and her now husband had been invited by a friend to stay in Savannah for a while as things were getting worse in New York.
“It was just one of the nicest acts of kindness we’ve ever received. We realized that the people of Savannah are some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. We truly fell in love with Savannah,” Budnik expressed. It wasn’t long after that the couple decided to make Savannah home.
With Savannah as her home base, Budnik still travels to New York and other places frequently for work, but living here has afforded her a lot of great singing opportunities.
“Since I’ve moved here, I’ve gotten to work with the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra and their concert that’s called the Birth of Swing. I’ve also gotten to perform here with the Savannah Voice Festival in all the different gorgeous churches that Savannah has to offer as well as the Savannah Theatre, and also the American Traditions Collection,” said Budnik.
She knew from an early age that she wanted to sing professionally.
“The first time that I realized that I wanted to sing for my career was probably sitting in the back seat of the car singing Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Neil Young with my mom and dad. I just fell in love with their enthusiasm for watching me perform. . . My family has always supported me in doing vocals and performance,” she recalled.
From that moment, Budnik has honed her craft through the years to become the gifted songstress she is today. She attended Baldwin Wallace University where she studied musical theater and classical voice. This education equipped her with the ability to sing in a variety of musical styles.
“I am what you call a genre-hopper. I sing several different styles of music and I range from opera . . . to jazz and swing music to Americana to musical theater. I just do a lot of different things. I actually just came back from doing a rock show in Wisconsin where I was singing Cher and Peggy Lee,” she laughed.
Budnik has been performing professionally since she graduated in 2014 and has a lot of highlights in her career. Her first job out of college was performing on a world cruise line.
“I got to visit 50 different countries, and it was fantastic getting to wake up and be in a new place and then perform that night for a whole new audience. It was the most incredible experience, and I was only 22 or 23 years old. I completely didn’t realize that my career could go to so many different places globally,” she recalled.
Over the years, Budnik has performed in lots of regional theaters across the country. She played the role of ‘Mother’ on the national tour of “A Christmas Story: The Musical” and placed in the 2020 Miss New York pageant. But her favorite opportunity has been performing for the USO Show Troupe.
“I get to perform for veterans and active duty military and do everything from the Andrew Sisters to Taylor Swift for the people who serve our country. It’s one of the things that I’m most proud of. I get to travel internationally to different military bases and perform for our troops. It’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever gotten to do,” she expressed.
Her favorite thing about performing is losing herself in a role.
“ I love getting to step into a new role, especially one that I’ve never done before, and getting to create a character. To feel their emotions and to see the world through their eyes and to share that onstage with my fellow performers. It’s like you’re a team and the office is the stage. It’s really special what we get to do,” said Budnik.
She will be performing for the Savannah Voice Festival on Aug. 7 at 5 p.m. at the Jewish Educational Alliance and on Aug. 12 and 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the Charles H. Morris Center. Budnik encourages everyone to come out and support this year’s festival.
“I think that everybody is really going to enjoy the Voice Festival this year because it’s all about community and sharing what the festival has been able to offer. . . The theme of it is Voices from Beyond and each piece touches on this. It’s going to have voices that are truly beautiful beyond words. [There will be] artists who are local like me as well as artists coming from all over the place. It’s going to be a really special event. This year, they’re honoring the past while looking to the future and highlighting some festival favorites. There’s going to be people returning who are Savannah favorites and there’s going to be some new faces as well,” she explained.
- Chantel Britton
