ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Gloria Gaynor’s legendary career spans the past 40 years, never losing momentum. She has achieved global stardom and musical recognition with hit songs in the charts in all four decades. Gaynor has channeled her fame and recognition into support for several charities, donating not only her money but also her time and talent. She changed the lyrics to her world-renowned song and leant her time to a corresponding music video used by the Miami Children’s Hospital to raise awareness and funds for their lifesaving efforts.
Never one to rest, Gloria recently earned a bachelor’s degree in behavioral sciences to aid in her work with charities and organizations helping at-risk youths and their families. On May 16, 2015, Dowling College presented Gloria with an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Music.
Gaynor continues to tirelessly tour the world. She performs at concerts in the USA, Europe, South America, and beyond each year. Gaynor was a presenter at the 2015 GRAMMY’s and the headliner at the 2015 “Official GRAMMY Celebration.”
No stranger to television, Gaynor has made guest appearances on Ally McBeal, The Wayans Bros., and That ‘70s Show. She was a featured guest on the premiere episode of Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris and most recently Gloria was a guest on The Dr. OZ Show.
2016 found Gaynor finishing a new album of inspirational songs. She spent time in Nashville during 2014 and 2015 co-writing and collaborating with GRAMMY®-winning CCM songwriters and producers.
Gaynor has received many awards and honors through her career, including these recent ones: In 2002, she was honored at the World Music Awards in Monte Carlo with the coveted LEGEND award presented by long time fan Prince Albert and was the featured artist in the Tom Ford Tribute hosted by Tom and Rita Hanks. Gaynor was presented by Ido Aharoni (Consul General of Israel), with the “Martin Luther King Jr Award” acknowledging those who have gone above and beyond to inspire others.
In March 2016, Gaynor’s recording of, “I Will Survive,” was inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry, preserving sound recordings with great cultural and historic importance to the U.S. Her second book, We Will Survive, True Stories of Encouragement, Inspiration, and the Power of Song, was a 2015 GRAMMY® nominee for Best Spoken Word Album. The remarkable stories in this book reveal that the song, “I Will Survive,” has reached people from all walks of life and touched them in thousands of unique ways.
From individuals triumphing over illness to those suffering from the painful loss of a loved one to others piecing their lives together after bearing witness to a national tragedy, “I Will Survive,” has become an emotional anthem for them and for millions of Gaynor’s adoring fans around the world.
“It is my privilege and honor to use it to inspire people around the world of every nationality, race, creed, color and age group to join me as I sing and live the words: ‘I Will Survive.’” - Gloria Gaynor
Sarah Hicks’s versatile and vibrant musicianship has secured her place as an in-demand conductor across an array of genres, and as an educator, arranger, producer, writer, and speaker committed to creating connections through music. Her career has seen collaborations with diverse artists, from Hilary Hahn and Dmitiri Hvorostovsky to Rufus Wainwright, Jennifer Hudson, and Smokey Robinson; during the summer of 2011, she toured with Sting as conductor of his Symphonicities Tour. Her passion for cross-genre partnerships led to a 2019 album with rap artist Dessa and the Minnesota Orchestra, with whom she holds a titled position.
A specialist in film music and the film-in-concert genre, she is thrilled to create concert experiences which combine sight and sound, and that welcome new audiences to the orchestral genre. She has premiered Pixar in Concert and Disney-Pixar’s Coco; her live concert recordings can be seen on Disney+ (A Celebration of the Music from Coco) and heard on broadcast for ABC (The Little Mermaid). Her concerts with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra of film music, The Morricone Duel was released as an album in 2018, has been broadcast around the world and has garnered over 80 million view on YouTube.
A highly sought-after guest conductor, Hicks has worked extensively both in the States and abroad. Notable ensembles include the Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Pops, Cincinnati Pops, Dallas Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, RTE (Dublin) Orchestra, Czech National Symphony Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic,Tokyo Philharmonic, and Malaysian Philharmonic, among others. Her opera appearances include the East Slovak State Opera Theater and the Curtis Opera Theater, as well as operas in concert with the Minnesota Orchestra and RTE Orchestra. Her commitment to new music led to the creation of an innovative micro-commission project which led to the premier of a major work by Judd Greenstein, and her recording of new concertos, Triple Doubles has been released by the Bridge label.
Dedicated to passing on to young musicians her passion for connecting to audiences, Hicks is a frequent guest lecturer and panelist and was on faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music from 2000 to 2005 and Staff Conductor until 2012. Her presentation, “The Art of Conducting,” has illustrated, the idea of collaborative leadership to numerous organizations, civic groups, and corporations. Her interest in the intersection of mental health and music led to the production of a concert titled “Music and the Mind” and her commitment to open conversation about mental health issues continues through her blogs, online advocacy, and development of a Musical Mindfulness course.
Sarah Hicks was born in Tokyo, Japan and raised in Honolulu, HI. Trained on both the piano and the viola, she was a prizewinning pianist by her early teens. She received her B.A. magna cum laude from Harvard University in composition. She holds an Artists’ Degree in conducting from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with the late renowned pedagogue Otto-Werner Mueller. In her spare time, Hicks enjoys running, hiking, her Papillon, cooking (and eating) with her husband, traveling, and blogging.