Pianist Sarah Cahill is a key figure in the San Francisco Bay Area's avant-garde scene and has worked closely with composer Terry Riley for many years. She is also a radio show host, writer, and educator. While a student at the San Francisco Conservatory, John Adams wrote the work China Gates for her. She has been the recipient of dedications for new works from a large variety of composers, including Frederic Rzewski and Annea Lockwood. In 1997, she made her recording debut with an album of music by Ravel. In 2021, she performed a seven-hour marathon of music by women at the Berkeley Museum of Art and Pacific Film Archive, commissioning new works from Regina Harris Baiocchi, Mary Watkins, and Theresa Wong. That year, Cahill was heard as pianist with the ensemble Gamelan Galak Tika in a recording of Lou Harrison's Concerto for Piano with Javanese Gamelan.