Sarah Hicks is a Japanese-born orchestral conductor. She is the staff conductor at the Curtis Institute of Music and also the Principal Conductor of Live at Orchestra Hall for Minnesota Orchestra. Following the works of Gustav Mahler, Leonard Bernstein, Johann Sebastian Bach, and other greats of the field, Sarah aspires to be the best in what she does and strives to improve on her art and represent strong and independent women. In a field where such women would bring many layers and character to the art, Sarah yearns to contribute to it through her hard work and devotion.
Sarah Hicks started listening to classical music and playing piano at an early age, which assisted her in developing fascinations with creating music. Following the essence of the saying by Johann Sebastian Bach, "Music is an agreeable harmony for the honor of God and permissible delights of the soul," Hicks perceives music as an opportunity for an individual to engage, understand and feel an incredible artform within a larger context of their life. Sarah is really interested in the concept of neurodiversity, how all of our brains are wired differently, and how that discrepancy influences the process of art creation and perception.
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Early Life, Family, and Education
Sarah Hicks was born in Tokyo, Japan, although she has spent the major parts of her life in the US. The Japanese- American conductor has a Japanese classical dancer and dance teacher for a mother. Her father was an international banking lawyer based in Oakland. She moved to Hawaii with her parents and was raised in Honolulu until she moved to Massachusetts to join a college.
Sarah Hicks was interested in classical music from an early age. Image Source: Social Media.
Sarah attended the Punahou School, the same as Barack Obama. She was already involved in the music field since her school days. She started playing piano when she was 4 or 5. She also played the viola in her high school Orchestra. Hicks attended Harvard University and received a bachelor's degree in arts as a composition major. Additionally, she received an Artist's Degree in conducting from the Curtis Institute of Music.
Sarah's passion for music ever since her school days has helped her immensely get into the music industry.
Career and Life as a Conductor
In her pre-teen and teenage years, Sarah Hicks played piano and violin in School. She was also a significant part of her high school orchestra, where she played violin. The change in her path in music came when she was 16 or 17 years old. After developing an attenuating case of chronic tendonitis in both her hands, she had to end her small career as a violinist. Her father encouraged her to pursue her dreams of creating music as he suggested she hold a stick and try conducting an orchestra.
Following the aforementioned events, Sarah's teacher handed her the conducting baton. After conducting the first movement of Dvorak's Eighth Symphony, she was sold on the idea of conducting for a career. Subsequently, Sarah served as Associate Conductor for the North Carolina Symphony and Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Resident Conductor of Florida Philharmonic, Assistant Conductor of the Reading Symphony, and Philadelphia Singers. Sarah Hicks's career has been very fruitful. Furthermore, Hicks has appeared as the guest conductor for countless other orchestras in the US, Japan, Korea, and Italy and has collaborated with conducting and music personalities such as Jaime Laredo, Hilary Hahn, and Sting. In 2006 Hicks started working with Minnesota Orchestra and since has become the first female Principal Conductor of Live at the Minnesota Orchestra.
During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Sarah started writing her own blogs. Whenever the time is convenient, she writes blogs on her website, Coronavirus Diary. During that time, Sarah also got interested in making YouTube videos. She started making videos explaining the ins and outs of her industry, life during the hard times, and her love for music and music in general. Although her channel has a low number of subscribers and views, she keeps making them in order to express what's inside her mind.
All these achievements would certainly make up a big amount for Sarah Hicks' net worth.
Sarah Hicks Net Worth And Earnings
With such an engaging career and heaps of work as a conductor, she must've surely generated plenty of money, making Sarah Hicks' net worth quite a sizable sum. According to ZipRecruiter, an average orchestra conductor's basic salary is approximately $47K per year. The pay size depends upon the symphony they work with and their reputation in the industry. Furthermore, Sarah Hicks often tours with Sting in his various musical tours. Working for such a long time and with many reputed artists in the music industry would surely generate a big sum for Sarah.
Sarah Hicks's net worth mostly comprise of her income as a conductor. Image Source: Social Media.
The average price for a seat of an orchestra show ticket is around $100 for an average seat. This price would surely fluctuate depending on the quality of seats chosen, type of show, size of the orchestra hall, or who's playing a certain night. So as expected the orchestra hall would collect a lot of amounts. According to Philanthropy News Digest, the orchestra member of the Minnesota Orchestra are to be paid $118K for the first year, and the amount would change over the years. As the principal conductor for the Minnesota Orchestra Hall and associated conductor of few more Orchestras, it would surely result in a big paycheque for Sarah.
And looking at the conductor's intriguing career, one can expect Sarah Hicks' net worth to be of a grand amount. Sarah enjoys a lavish life in an expensive part of San Fransisco city with her husband with all the income she generates.
Married to Paul LaFollette
With her demand all over the US orchestra scene, Sarah, a versatile and vibrant musician, is not a bachelor as some would expect her to be. Sarah Hicks's personal life is very private. She does not like to show off much of the stuff in her life, except for her musical talent. The fact that she is married is also fairly unknown. The Japanese-American conductor, Sarah Hicks' husband's name is Paul LaFollette, a French horn player who works as a financial adviser currently. Sarah and her husband live together in an apartment in San Fransisco, California. Sarah met Paul while she was at the Curtis Institute of music.
According to Sarah, Paul started his conversation with her using the worst pickup line. He apparently called Sarah a Hawaiian Punch seeing how she's from Hawaii. Despite these kinds of bantering between the couple, their relationship is as strong as it gets. Although the couple has been married for quite some time, they do not have any kids. As a rounded and experienced pair, they could think about bringing a precious baby to this world very soon and, if they do, we hope the child could be as strong of a person as his/her mother is.
Trivia
- Sarah Hicks has a Papillon.
- Sarah's dog is named after a musician.
- Hicks is a fan of Taylor Swift.
