– New York Times
BIOGRAPHY
Music Director of Symphony Tacoma, Sarah Ioannides is the newly appointed Resident Conductor of NYO-USA, and 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” (News Tribune), Sarah Ioannides’ has gained recognition for her passionate performances, multifaceted leadership and creativity in programming and multimedia productions.
Internationally, Ioannides has conducted on six continents with orchestras including the Tonkünstler, the Royal Philharmonic, Orchestre Nationale de Lyon, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony, the Flemish Radio, 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. The 22/23 Season includes conducting debuts with the Sarasota Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, the Hamilton Philharmonic, Santa Fe Pro Music and the Vermont Symphony.
Appointed as the first woman to a full-time conducting position with the Cincinnati Symphony, 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.
Sarah has conducted and curated over 60 World, North American and European orchestral 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 Paulus’ The Woodlanders, and Australian & Greek premieres of Tan Dun’s Water Passion after St. Matthew.
Founding Artistic Director of Cascade Conducting & Composing, now in its 6th year, Ioannides supports diversity on the podium through generous scholarships. Ioannides continues to conduct high-level students at Yale University, the Jacobs School of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music. Appearing as guest speaker and on numerous advisory boards, she has served as National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Panelist for the US Government.
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.