Sarah Hicks

Sarah Hicks’s versatile and vibrant musicianship has secured her place as an in-demand conductor across an array of genres, and as an educator, Emmy-winning producer, writer, and speaker. Her career has seen collaborations with diverse artists, from Olga Kern and Dmitiri Hvorostovsky to Jennifer Hudson and Sting. Her cross-genre partnerships include a 2019 album with Dessa and the Minnesota Orchestra — with whom she holds a titled position — the 2023 premiere of Rufus Wainwright’s Want Symphonic at the BBC Proms, and her 2024 performance with Laufey as the first-ever conductor at Lollapalooza.

A highly sought-after guest conductor, Hicks has worked extensively with orchestras in the US and abroad, including The Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, WDR Funkhausorchester Köln, and Tokyo Philharmonic, among others. Her opera appearances include the East Slovak State Opera Theater and the Curtis Opera Theater, as well as operas in concert with the Minnesota Orchestra and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.

A specialist in film music and the film-in-concert genre, Hicks’s live concert recordings can be seen on Disney+ and ABC, and she acts as an advisor for Disney Music Group. In 2026, she conducted the red-carpet premiere of the live-action Moana, and her first major feature film credit, Renfield, was released in 2023. Her live album with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, The Morricone Duel, has garnered over 250 million views on YouTube.

Hicks is a frequent lecturer and was on faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music from 2000 to 2005 and staff conductor until 2012. Her interest in mental wellness and mindfulness has led to numerous projects, including Music & Healing with the Minnesota Orchestra, available digitally.

Hicks was born in Tokyo and raised in Honolulu. Trained on both the piano and the viola, she received degrees from Harvard University and the Curtis Institute of Music. In her spare time, Hicks enjoys running, hiking, her Papillons, and cooking (and eating) with her husband. She is currently writing her first book, a collection of essays.