Musically Inclined
Working Mother, May 2010 by Riss, Suzanne
Sarah loannides, 38, music director, El Paso Symphony Orchestra, TX, and Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra, SC; husband Scott Hartman; daughter Audrey Rose, 2.
Bach, Beethoven and Brahms flowed from the record player as three-yearold Sarah loannides amused herself for hours by connecting the music to pictures of violins, flutes and pianos. “My mother showed me how to do that,” Sarah says today. “Instrumental tones fascinated me more than anything else at a very young age- even more than being with other kids.” She was so drawn to the different sounds that while growing up, she studied voice and every instrument she could get her hands on – the violin, viola, piano and French horn, along with some guitar, recorder and saxophone.
Music continues to be at the heart of Sarah’s Ufe, along with daughter Audrey Rose, 2, and husband Scott Hartman. It would be impressive if, in this stillmale-dominated industry, she led just one American orchestra. But Sarah is the music director of both the El Paso Symphony Orchestra in Texas and the Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra in South Carolina – opportunities too attractive to turn down. Her family’s home is in yet a third state, Connecticut, where Scott teaches trombone at Yale University.
Navigating the three locations, as well as guest engagements spanning five continents, has meant lots of travel, usually with Audrey Rose in tow. “I’m rarely in the same place longer than two weeks,” she says. In El Paso, a nanny cares for Audrey Rose while Sarah performs. In Spartanburg, Audrey Rose is in part-time child care. Sometimes when Scott travels for performances, Audrey Rose goes with him, and a babysitter tags along. Whenever Scott isn’t teaching or traveling, he joins his family wherever they may be. “It all takes a lot of planning,” Sarah says. “But we haven’t been away from each other for more than two weeks.”
And soon, Sarah’s carefully orchestrated schedule will be further complicated: She’s expecting twins this month. “I know their arrival will control me, and I am giving myself over to it,” she says. “IfI have to say, ‘No, I can’t conduct,’ for a little while, I will.” She admits that “saying no will be new to me. How I will do all this with twins is still a cliffhanger. It will be an adventure.”
Finding Harmony
Fittingly, it was music that brought Sarah and Scott-together, in April 2005. “He was hired to play trombone as a guest artist for the first El Paso Orchestra concert I conducted,” she explains. They met on a publicity shoot to promote the concert, posing together on a Harley-Davidson. “He was very cool, laid-back, easy to be around,” recalls Sarah. “He was also charming, funny and not overly serious – in contrast to me. He seemed like a good person, solid and, oh yes, handsome.” After a whirlwind romance, they got married six months later. “We knew,” she says.
For Sarah, it all comes down to devotion- to her daughter, to her husband, to her career. “Scott and I don’t like to compromise,” she says. “We want our individual careers and our family. It means pretty hard work, but it all pays off.” Sarah makes the most of days off at home, when she and Scott enjoy hiking, swimming and cooking. “We’re pretty much going all the time,” she says, “so we truly relish our time together when we’re not working.”
Because her career includes artistic planning and organizing, Sarah is often on her computer
french connection kids
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