Sarah Ioannides

As a music director and guest conductor who is committed to collaboration, innovation andeducation, Sarah Ioannides invigorates programming and inspires audiences. Praised by the NewYork Times for her “unquestionable strength and authority”, she is Music Director of WashingtonState’s Symphony Tacoma. Her conducting career has taken her to six continents. She previouslyserved as music director of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra in Texas and the SpartanburgPhilharmonic in South Carolina. Sarah Ioannides was the first woman to hold a full-time position asa conductor with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

In addition to her Symphony Tacoma season, her North American schedule features appearanceswith Calgary Philharmonic, the Florida Orchestra, Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, Hawai’iSymphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Sarasota Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, and at theLake Chelan Bach Fest. Her extensive repertoire ranges wide – from Mozart to re-emergingcomposers like Louise Farrenc, Florence Price, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Joseph Boulogne, andcontemporary works by Aaron J Kernis, Valerie Coleman, Bernard Roumain, Nick DiBerardino andJesse Montgomery.

Beyond North America, Sarah Ioannides’ past and current engagements include the BilbaoSymphony, Brussels Philharmonic, Daejeon Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony, Konzerthaus-orchester Berlin, Malmö Symphony, Nordic Chamber Orchestra, Tonkünstler-Orchester, OrchestreNational de Lyon, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Simón Bolívar Symphony.

She also makes significant contributions to the field of education as newly appointed Director ofOrchestras at Boston University, as Founding Artistic Director with Cascade Conducting &Composing, as conductor of the Massachusetts All-State Festival Orchestra in 2025 and as ResidentConductor of the National Youth Orchestra – USA in 2023.