Engaging the Community

Aug 28 2006
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Sarah Johnson
Sarah Johnson

Sarah Johnson came to The Philadelphia Orchestra as the Director of Education and Community Partnerships in December 2003. In addition to her responsibilities for the Orchestra’s wide range of education and community programs, Ms. Johnson plays 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 has played a key role in initiating a number of exciting programs, including the in-depth School Partnership Program for elementary school children; the Access Series, an adult subscription concert series for curious listneners; and the Camden Community Partnership Initiative, an in-depth community engagement program with residents of Camden NJ.

Developing imaginative programming to connect with young audiences is one of Ms. Johnson’s key skills, honed during the several years preceding her arrival in Philadelphia when she worked in music education for major music institutions in New York City, both as an administrator and a teaching artist. At New York City’s cultural icon, the 92nd Street Y, she served as program associate for the educational outreach program, writing curriculum and other educational materials, leading professional development sessions for teachers and teaching artists, and working in program creation, development, and assessment. She also helped to develop and/or lead teaching and outreach programs for musicians from the Saint Louis Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and Tanglewood, among others. From 1999 to 2002 Ms. Johnson worked as a teaching artist with the New York Philharmonic School Partnership Program and Lincoln Center Institute.

A graduate from the Juilliard School, Ms. Johnson received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in oboe performance in 1997 and 1999. She is also a founding member of Ariel Winds, a wind quintet dedicated to educational outreach.

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In response to Yvonne’s Day 3 post: Thanks very much for this post! We are just about to begin using video cameras in the hall during some of our Access and education concerts in this way, so it’s great to hear your success stories. I completely agree that it can be very compelling for people to actually be able to see what it is they are hearing; we take this for granted, knowing what instrument it is we are hearing, and knowing where to look for that person on stage. It’s also possible to communicate so much information in an image without any words at all. We’ll be starting to play with this technology this year – maybe I’ll come down and visit one of your concerts to see IMAG in action. Thanks again for your program description!

To respond to Yvonne’s comment regarding Jon Deak’s brilliant work: True, Jon is absolutely incredible, and watching him work with young people, or people of any age actually, is inspiring. I do think it is possible to train other musicians who have some experience with teaching to do the type of creative work that he does in the classroom.

Professional development/training is one of the things we are (and we need to be) working on as a field right now. Many musicians playing in our orchestras haven’t had much, if any, training in working in educational settings. As we ask more of our musicians, in terms of performing interactive concerts, speaking to audiences more frequently, and going into classroom and community performance settings, appropriate training is one of the things that orchestras must address. Conservatories are dealing with this to varying degrees (some extremely well!), but until those programs become stronger across the board in this area, orchestras will need to find ways to support our musicians in this work.

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Sarah Johnson
Sarah Johnson

Sarah Johnson came to The Philadelphia Orchestra as the Director of Education and Community Partnerships in December 2003. In addition to her responsibilities for the Orchestra’s wide range of education and community programs, Ms. Johnson plays 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 has played a key role in initiating a number of exciting programs, including the in-depth School Partnership Program for elementary school children; the Access Series, an adult subscription concert series for curious listneners; and the Camden Community Partnership Initiative, an in-depth community engagement program with residents of Camden NJ.

Developing imaginative programming to connect with young audiences is one of Ms. Johnson’s key skills, honed during the several years preceding her arrival in Philadelphia when she worked in music education for major music institutions in New York City, both as an administrator and a teaching artist. At New York City’s cultural icon, the 92nd Street Y, she served as program associate for the educational outreach program, writing curriculum and other educational materials, leading professional development sessions for teachers and teaching artists, and working in program creation, development, and assessment. She also helped to develop and/or lead teaching and outreach programs for musicians from the Saint Louis Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and Tanglewood, among others. From 1999 to 2002 Ms. Johnson worked as a teaching artist with the New York Philharmonic School Partnership Program and Lincoln Center Institute.

A graduate from the Juilliard School, Ms. Johnson received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in oboe performance in 1997 and 1999. She is also a founding member of Ariel Winds, a wind quintet dedicated to educational outreach.

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