As Director of The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall, Sarah Johnson is responsible for developing and overseeing all educational and community activities at Carnegie Hall as well as strategic planning on a local, national, and international level. The Weill Music Institute annually serves over 115,000 children, students, teachers, parents, young music professionals, and adults in the New York City metropolitan area, across the United States, and around the world.
Prior to joining Carnegie Hall in April 2007, Ms. Johnson served as Director of Education and Community Partnerships at The Philadelphia Orchestra. In addition to her responsibilities for the Orchestra’s education and community programs, Ms. Johnson played a leadership role in an organization-wide initiative designed to deepen the musical experiences of existing audiences and bring new audiences into the concert hall. Under this initiative, entitled “Raising the Invisible Curtain,” she played a key role in initiating a number of exciting programs, including the Camden Community Partnership Initiative, an in-depth community engagement program with residents of Camden, NJ, which was awarded the 2007 MetLife Award for Excellence in Community Engagement by the American Symphony Orchestra League.
Ms. Johnson has helped to develop and/or lead professional development programs for musicians from the Philadelphia Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and Tanglewood, and has served on the faculty of the American Symphony Orchestra League’s Orchestra Leadership Academy. Ms. Johnson has also worked as a teaching artist with the New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center Institute. A graduate from the Juilliard School, Ms. Johnson received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in oboe performance. She is a founding member of Ariel Winds, a wind quintet dedicated to educational outreach.