Fire-Mountain

Fire-Mountain

Sarah Ioannides-Project-Fire Mountain

Fire-Mountain

Music By Dan Ott & Film by Derek Klein

“…a culmination of creativity, education, outreach and advocacy that touched our community and brought people together in a powerful shared experience”.-John Falksow, Tacoma Tribune

An environmental commission and a multimedia experience featuring video, glass art and music. A symposium exploring changes to the delicate ecosystem of the mountain and its glaciers. A collaboration between the performing and visual arts and the National Park Service. A once-in-a-lifetime educational opportunity for area high school students.

Conceived by Sarah Ioannides and commissioned by Symphony Tacoma, this was a collaborative effort between Symphony Tacoma, Museum of Glass, Hilltop Artists and Mount Rainier National Park to create a cross-disciplinary multimedia artistic event culminating with the Symphony’s season finale. Commemorating the Centennial of the National Parks System, the project engaged area residents in music and glass art and raised awareness of the plight of Mount Rainier’s glaciers, which are melting at an alarming rate.

This multifaceted commission was featured in Symphony Magazine’s article, “Mission: Commission” in Winter 2019.

“Symphony Tacoma’s community engagement was multi-pronged for Fire-Mountain, which commemorated the centennial of the National Park Service. The ambitious project conceived by Ioannides had involved 155 performers and multiple organizations, including the National Park Service. For example, orchestra students from a local high school explored Mount Rainier on snowshoes, where they learned about the glacial ecosystem and heard from the composer about his creative pro­cess. At a panel discussion prior to the world premiere, the conductor, composer, a climatologist,and a National Park deputy discussed the effects of climate change on the mountain”. ~Symphony Magazine

“Fire Mountain” ended in an elongated, disintegrating diminuendo. The violin sections melted into a single thread of sound, and their whisper faded into profound silence. This silence clung on for a long time. It seemed that nobody in the Pantages Theater wanted this moment to end. The silence broke, and the audience launched into an immediate standing ovation”. ~Tacoma Tribune

 

Saxophone Fusion

Saxophone Fusion

Sarah Ioannides-project-Saxophone Fusion

Saxophone Fusion

A demonstration of Sarah’s creative curation of music, art and desserts. Roberto Sierra’s Caribbean Rhapsody for saxophone and orchestra with its classical and Latin jazz influences. Poulenc’s satirical Sinfonietta, seeking to free French music from foreign domination in post-World War I Europe. Milhaud’s La Création du monde, telling the creation story according to African folk mythology with influences of Harlem Renaissance jazz, accompanied by film; a multi-collaborative effort with Cincinnati Cincinnati Art Museum. The use of Saxophone in this program is a pivotal anchor where classical music to branches out into jazz idiom. A program to fuse together the French, Classical, Latino and African-American jazz idioms.

“..Ioannides’ leadership was deft and energetic. …McCombs, a faculty member at NKU, created an inventive film – fusing his own imagery in the Overture with artworks from the Cincinnati Art Museum and even the conductor Ioannides. It was perfectly synched to the music, all the way to “The Kiss”. ~ Janelle Gelfand, Cincinnati Enquirer

In May 2021, Saxophone Fusion was included in Symphony Tacoma’s digital ENCORE Series accompanied by a video produced by Sarah Ioannides. 

Twins Magazine

Twins Magazine

Twins Magazine

Raising children is THE most demanding job on earth. Nurturing a conducting career is not far behind. Put them together and it may seem a Herculean task…

Showcase Magazine

Showcase Magazine

Showcase Magazine

The parallel power of music and athletics

The physicality of Ioannides’ career requires dedication and perseverance, much like an athletic endeavor. She shares her story of injury, healing and music as a lens through which others might envision succeeding in anything that requires both mental and physical discipline. 

Symphony Tacoma brings thousands of children online programs

Symphony Tacoma brings thousands of children online programs

Symphony Tacoma brings thousands of children online programs

Symphony Tacoma now brings its education programs online including Mini-Maestros & Simply Symphonic to a Google Classroom. It also launched a opportunity for children to send in compositions that will be compiled to a community premiere inspired by Mozart Requiem in a project called Eternal Light.

In June 2020, Symphony Tacoma entered into a partnership with Meludia, a French music education company, to help local students stay engaged with their music lessons while COVID-19 restrictions are keeping them out of the classroom. The Meludia Method, a web platform which includes 625 interactive music learning exercises, will be available to about 3,000 participating music students in Symphony Tacoma’s Symphony2U program, University Place School District, Tacoma Youth Symphony Association, Tacoma Youth Chorus, University Place Presbyterian Church Alleluia Choir, children of Tacoma Refugee Choir, and students of Symphony Tacoma musicians.

Once area schools closed, Symphony Tacoma’s education team quickly pivoted to research and develop new virtual content to help students maintain the momentum in their music studies. Meludia’s ear training program came highly recommended by colleagues of Maestra Sarah Ioannides. After evaluating the quality of the program, Symphony staff conferred with Meludia’s creators and determined that it would be a solid alternative for youth participating in Symphony education programs, including Simply Symphonic and Symphony2U.

The partnership with Meludia began when Music Director Sarah Ioannides was invited as a delegate to the World Culture Summit in Abu Dhabi in 2017 with the support of the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation and Symphony Board. “I have worked on the platform and found it to be valuable for ear training for both kids and adults, including professional musicians,” says Ioannides.

The Meludia platform allows students to proceed at their own pace through a game-like platform using sleek minimalist visuals and acoustics. Learning occurs through right-brained instinct and experimentation, rather than a more traditionally prescribed process. The gaming component adds an element of sport and motivates players to aim for the next level as they heighten their ability to listen.

Two Symphony2U musician coaches are also participating in Meludia training to learn the many facets of the program. After the training, they will create instructional videos customized for different age groups, from beginning violin elementary students through high school orchestra players. Access to the training program will be distributed from teachers to their students who will be able to stay connected with their music in new enriching ways while outside of school.