Sarah Penicka-Smith

A passionate advocate for music as a force for change, Dr Sarah Penicka-Smith is a freelance conductor with a socially-engaged arts practice based in Western Sydney, and Associate Conductor of Willoughby Symphony Orchestra.

In 2025, Sarah travelled to Europe and the USA on a Churchill Fellowship to research socially-engaged orchestral and operatic models, including visits to Santa Fe Opera, the Barenboim Said Fundaçion (Seville), the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (Berlin), and the Refugee Orchestra Project (Boston).

Sarah made her international debut at The Dallas Opera in 2018 through the Hart Institute for Women Conductors. From 2019-2025, she was the founding Artistic Director & Principal Conductor of River City Voices, a symphonic choir created to give access to major classical choral works and platform local artists in Western Sydney. She has conducted operas with Sydney companies, as well as many Sydney orchestras. She has also worked extensively with choirs, including previous positions with Sydney Gay & Lesbian Choir and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.

Sarah was one of The Cad Factory’s inaugural CASE Incubator residents, for contemporary artists with a socially-engaged practice, later joining projects in the regional communities of Pinnaroo, SA, and Narrandera, NSW.

Sarah and her wife produce and direct socially-engaged music projects including Pacific Pride Choir, a touring choir visiting countries where LGBTQIA+ rights are less accepted including Poland, Vietnam and Cambodia, and the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse Volunteer Orchestra. They co-created and produced ‘OCDiva’, Dr Eve Klein’s one-woman opera for mezzo-soprano and OCD advocate Yasmin Arkinstall.

In 2026, Sarah directs the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra in Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang and two Australian premieres, as well as further international study in Spain, Norway, Germany and the United Kingdom.