Sarah Ioannides maintains an extensive and international reputation as a guest conductor, speaker and adjudicator. Described by the New York Times as a conductor with “unquestionable strength and authority” and a conductor with “magic”, Sarah Ioannides’ has gained recognition for her passionate performances, multifaceted leadership and creativity in programming and multimedia productions.

Internationally, Sarah has conducted on six continents with orchestras including the Tonkünstler, the Royal Philharmonic, Orchestre Nationale de Lyon, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony, the FlemishRadio, Bilbao Symphony, and some of the world’s greatest National Youth Orchestras, including the South African National Youth Orchestra, Andalusian Youth Orchestra and the Simon Bolivar Orchestra.

Sarah began her career with the Cincinnati Symphony, appointed Ioannides as the first woman appointed to a full-time conducting position and she has since conducted extensively in the United States including the Buffalo Philharmonic, Charleston Symphony, Hawai’i Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, North Carolina Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Tulsa and the Toledo Symphony.

A great advocate for new music, Sarah has conducted and curated over 60 World, North American and European premiers, recorded world premieres with Nordic Chamber Orchestra, Malmö Symphony and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. She has produced many original videos for live orchestral multimedia performances and digital productions and was previously an assistant, production coordination with composer/conductor Tan Dun.

As Music Director her orchestras have received prestigious awards including ArtWorks grants for community projects, commissioning music and films spotlighting current issues. Equally at home with opera and choral repertoire, she has led many opera productions and conducted at festivals worldwide, including the European premiere of Stephen Paulus’ The Woodlanders, and Australian & Greek premieres of Tan Dun’s Water Passion After St. Matthew.

Passionate about education, Sarah is the Founding Artistic Director of Cascade Conducting & Composing, now in its 8th year, which supports diversity on the podium through generous scholarships. Ioannides regularly guest conducts conservatory orchestras such as Yale University, the Jacobs School of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music. She is internationally sought after to coach women conductors from Australia to Canada. Appearing as key-notespeaker and serving on numerous advisory boards, she has appeared multiple times as a panelist with the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2023 she served as Resident Conductor of NYO-USA.

Born in Australia, of Greek and Scottish descent, she was raised in England, studied at Oxford University, the Guildhall School and The Juilliard School, earning two Master’s degrees. Ioannides came to the USA as a Fulbright Scholar and graduated from The Curtis Institute of Music, a protégé of the late Otto-Werner Mueller. Married to Scott Hartman, renowned trombonist, they have three children, including twins, Elsa and Karl, and Audrey. An avid long-distance runner Sarah won first place overall woman in the 30k The Defiance in 2021 and in 2022 qualifying for the Boston Marathon with an average pace of 8:19.