October 10 - Sarah Hatsuko Hicks

Sarah Hicks' versatile and vibrant musicianship has secured her place in "the next generation of up-and-coming American conductors." She is known for her "rapport with the audience" and ability to explain symphonic music to new listeners. Trained in both viola and piano, Hicks was a prizewinning pianist by her early teens. A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard University in Composition, she also holds an Artists Degree in Conducting from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she is currently Staff Conductor. HIcks' past positions include Associate Conductor of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Resident Conductor of the Florida Philharmonic, and Associate Conductor of the Philadelphia Singers, the chorus of the Philadelphia Orchestra. A committed proponent of new music, she joined the Minnesota Orchestra as Associate Conductor in 2006; there she conducts the orchestra's innovative "Inside the Classics" series and has just been named Pops conductor. She is also Associate Conductor of the North Carolina Symphony.