Hailing from Hong Kong, Sarah Maria Leung is known for her gentle yet commanding music direction. Sarah is currently Music Director at the Newman Centre at U of T. She is also Assistant Conductor at Pax Christi Chorale and the project-based group Incontra Vocal Ensemble.

Sarah holds an MMus in choral conducting from the University of Toronto.  She earned a BA at the University of Southern California (USC), double majoring in Choral Music and World History, and graduating with the USC Thornton School of Music Choral & Sacred Music Departmental Award.  Sarah’s conducting teachers included Hilary Apfelstadt, Cristian Grases, Uri Mayer, Jo-Michael Scheibe, and Tram Sparks.

Equally interested in chamber vocal music and major choral-orchestral works, Sarah enjoys working with forces of any size. She has studied chamber a cappella works with Simon Carrington at Sarteano Chamber Choral Conducting Workshop, Italy; and was selected twice as Conducting Scholar at the Chorus America Conducting Academy, where she conducted excerpts from Mozart’s Requiem and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms. Her previous engagements include Calvin Presbyterian Church/Deer Park United Church (Toronto), Oakville Chorale Society, Toronto Children’s Chorus, UofT Women’s Chamber Choir, USC Concert Choir, and Singchronizers (Hong Kong).

An avid singer, Sarah is an active performer in the Toronto choral scene. She is an alumnus of the renowned USC Thornton Chamber Singers and has sung in various international choral festivals in Canada, the United States, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Austria and Italy. In October 2018, Sarah co-founded the a cappella vocal quartet Fonitika Vocal Ensemble.

Sarah Maria Leung is a conductor in the 2022 TMC Choral Conductors’ Symposium and will conduct the full TMC and the Professional Core ensemble in the concluding Symposium concert on June 28, 2022.