REPERTOIRE
An experienced music curator, Sarah connects with audiences and communities, creating innovative programs that are relevant to today’s society with an emphasis on community relations and involvement. Having conducted over five hundred orchestral, choral and operatic compositions, she has developed a keen eye for unique and diverse presentations. She presents concerts that include special lighting designs and staging, unusual non-traditional settings, spontaneous improvisatory performances, as well as new productions that merge music with the visual arts, dance, theater or film.
During COVID-19, Sarah continues to conduct diverse repertoire. She also has been producer and editor for multiple new digital releases for Symphony Tacoma. These will be featured in the Media section of this site.
As Music Director she has led commissioning projects and initiated the creation of new films for live orchestral multimedia performances. Conducting over fifty premieres she regularly features women composers and presents rarer instruments as soloists (Tabla, Bandoneon, Electric Harp and Electric Guitar). With a deep passion for orchestral and choral music, she has most affinity with the music of Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Beethoven, and Sibelius.
Whether the collection is new or old, traditional or innovative, or the culmination of a community-involved project with interconnected commissions, Sarah brings people together through unique programs with energy, inspiration and passion for a “profound live orchestral experience. (South Sound Magazine)”
Browse the following projects for more details on repertoire, projects and programming:
An experienced music curator, Sarah connects with audiences and communities, creating innovative programs that are relevant to today’s society with an emphasis on community relations and involvement. Having conducted over five hundred orchestral, choral and operatic compositions, she has developed a keen eye for unique and diverse presentations. She presents concerts that include special lighting designs and staging, unusual non-traditional settings, spontaneous improvisatory performances, as well as new productions that merge music with the visual arts, dance, theater or film.
As Music Director she has led commissioning projects and initiated the creation of new films for live orchestral multimedia performances. Conducting over fifty premieres she regularly features women composers and presents rarer instruments as soloists (Tabla, Electric Harp and Electric Guitar). With a deep passion for orchestral and choral music, she has most affinity with the music of Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Beethoven, and Sibelius.
Whether the collection is new or old, traditional or innovative, or the culmination of a community-involved project with interconnected commissions, Sarah brings people together through unique programs with energy, inspiration and passion for a “profound live orchestral experience. (South Sound Magazine)”
Browse the following projects for more details on repertoire, projects and programming:
PORTFOLIO
A portfolio of multi-pronged collaborations, commission and multimedia projects.
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.”
Romeo & Juliet
“A fantastic experience that blended drama and orchestra into a touching and profound live performance experience” (South Sound Magazine)
Ten Minutes of Eternal Light
In 2020, students from the Pacific Northwest submitted original works in response to Symphony Tacoma’s call for music, poetry, imagery and dance as inspired by Lux Aeterna, or “Eternal Light,” from Mozart’s Requiem. Following this, the students worked with a creative team to produce one unique premiere in response to each other’s entries.
Saxophone Fusion
A world premiere, a digital film to accompany music, an art museum guided tour, curation of chamber and orchestral concerts, dessert pairings, and a celebration of diversity.
Reich – The Desert Music
Conceived by Ioannides for El Paso Symphony and El Paso Chorale, Sarah directed a 50-minute film, produced by El Paso native Zach Passero, to accompany Steve Reich’s “The Desert Music” for orchestra and amplified voices.
Water Passion
Water PassionTan Dun’s Water Passion After St. Matthew is a colossal feast for ears and ears. “Ever sure of the work’s choreography and architecture, the director guided securely and seamlessly to the very end, which saw all performers uplit with gold as they...
(6 world premieres) Il Público (Portuga)
PREMIERES
Dedicated to supporting living composers, Ioannides has brought to life over fifty world, U.S. and European premieres. She reviews new works on an ongoing basis and fosters promising emerging composers. As founding partner and Artistic Director of Cascade Conducting, 2020 sees the launch of a new composition program, “Cascade Composing,” in partnership with Symphony Tacoma’s new composer-in-residence program with David Ludwig. Sarah’s father, Ayis Ioannides, is also a renowned composer with works recently commissioned and performed by Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra’s Brass Quintet.
With students and faculty including; Tod Machover, Richard Danielpour, Nick di Berardino, Viet Cuong, Jennifer Higdon, David Ludwig
Recent and upcoming world premieres include:
Eternal Light 2.0 (Symphony Tacoma) – 2022
6 World Premieres by Student Composers (Curtis Institute of Music) – 2022
Bernard Roumain: Riots and Prayers (Vermont Symphony) – 2022
David Ludwig: Bleeding Pines (Symphony Tacoma) – 2022
Claudio Constantini: Bandoneon Concerto (Orquesta Joven de Andalucia)
Eternal Light: Youth Community Commission (Symphony Tacoma)
Hannah Lash: In Hopes of Finding the Sun (Symphony Tacoma)
Marie Samuelsson: Eros Effect and Solidarity (Nordic Chamber Orchestra)
Roberto Sierra: Caribbean Rhapsody (Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra)
Sean O’Boyle: Portraits of Immortal Love (Tacoma Symphony Orchestra)
Kim Scharnberg: Tap Concerto (New Haven Symphony)
Kenneth Fuchs: Falling Man (Spartanburg Philharmonic) commemorating the 10th Anniversary of 9/11.
Dario Marianelli: Pride & Prejudice Suite (Spartanburg Philharmonic)
Symphonic Django (US Premiere)
Stephen Paulus: Opera – The Woodlanders (European Premiere)
“A fine performance under the sure hand of conductor Sarah Ioannides.”
–The Australian
MULTIMEDIA
Ioannides has conceived, directed and helped produce films for live orchestral multimedia performances, including new presentations of Holst’s The Planets, Steve Reich’s The Desert Music, Milhaud’s Creation du Monde, and Daniel Ott’s Fire-Mountain.
She began her work in multimedia performances after being invited by Tan Dun to prepare his four multimedia “Orchestral Theatres” with the Gothenburg Symphony. She later served as production coordinator for Tan Dun, conducting numerous performances of his Water Passion After St. Matthew worldwide. She has conducted film in studios and presented large-scale orchestral scores with film, including Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage.