Artistic Director & Chief Conductor

Sarah-Grace Williams 

One of the foremost conductors of her generation, Sarah-Grace Williams has received acclaim from audiences and critics alike for her vibrant energy, outstanding musicianship and dynamic presence on the podium.  Australia based, she is Founding Chief Conductor & Artistic Director of The Metropolitan Orchestra (TMO), a position held since its inauguration in 2009, and Musical Director & Conductor of the Sydney Opera House Proms Orchestra for which she has composed and arranged the music for several highly acclaimed children’s shows since 2007.  In high demand as a Guest Conductor, Sarah-Grace has appeared in concerts with the Queensland, Adelaide, West Australian and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Queensland and Bangalow Music Festivals, Southern Cross Soloists, Willoughby and Penrith Symphony Orchestras, Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic and Artists of Opera Australia.  She has also worked as Musical Director for many musical theatre, ballet and opera galas, and was Chief Conductor & Artistic Director of Strathfield Symphony 2006-2010. 

During 2009-2010 Sarah-Grace was Assistant Conductor for Symphony Australia, based with the Queensland, West Australian and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras, assisting various conductors including Simone Young, Johannes Fritzsch, Eivind Aadland, Arvo Volmer and Paul Daniel.  At the conclusion of this posting, she was awarded a Churchill Fellowship, allowing her to study and assist renowned orchestras and conductors throughout Europe and the UK.   In early 2011, Sarah-Grace worked as Stager Conductor (Assistant) to Alexander Polishchuk at the Ukraine National Opera and Ballet Theatre before returning to Australia to take up a position as Conducting Fellow with the Australian Ballet, where she conducted the premiere of a new ballet in their ‘Bodytorque’ season. In addition to her TMO concert commitments, other highlights in 2011 included conducting the world premiere of Elena Kats-Chernin’s ballet ‘Little Green Road to Fairyland’ for the opening of the Queensland Music Festival and collaborating with an impressive array of artists including Sumi Jo, Katie Noonan, Rosario La Spina, Anke Hoppner and others.

Having conducted 96 professional concerts in 2011, Sarah-Grace’s busy schedule continues in 2012.  Highlights include conducting concerts with pianist David Helfgott in Sydney (with The Metropolitan Orchestra) and in Melbourne (with Australian Concert Orchestra), conducting all concerts in Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s brand new series ‘Concertii’, conducting 12 concerts in The Metropolitan Orchestra’s main orchestral series, working as Musical Director for 4 Sydney seasons and 2 regional tours with the Sydney Opera House Proms and appearing as Guest Resident Conductor with the Southern Cross Soloists and the Bangalow Music Festival.

Sarah-Grace received her Bachelor of Music with Distinction in 1996, followed by a First Class Honours in Conducting, before continuing conducting studies overseas with Alexander Polishchuk (Russia) and Jorma Panula (Holland). A principal graduate from Symphony Australia's Conductor Program she has conducted under the tutelage of Johannes Fritzsch, Janos Furst, Sebastian Lang-Lessing, Christopher Seaman, David Porcelijn, Lutz Koehler and Marco Zuccarini. 

Listed by Limelight magazine as one of the top 50 power players in their Smart Arts list 2010, Sarah-Grace has been awarded numerous prizes including a Symphony Australia Podium Scholarship, the University of Western Sydney Prize for Academic Excellence and Prize for 1st place in Performance and was listed in the 2010 and 2011 Who's Who of Australian Women. She lectured for many years at the Australian International Conservatorium of Music and Australian Institute of Music and continues to work as a freelance clarinetist and pianist, radio presenter, vocal coach, accompanist and adjudicator.