Sarah Mae Lagasca is an award-winning music educator, producer, and voice coach. She is a proud public school music teacher and also maintains a private voice studio specializing in musical theater and pop/contemporary performance. She has prepared vocalists for recordings at Avatar Studios and iHeart Radio; nationally broadcasted performances on Good Morning America; and sold out shows at Terminal 5, Musical Hall of Williamsburg, Irving Plaza, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and The Governor’s Ball Music Festival.
As a choral singer, Sarah Mae has performed with world-renowned orchestras including The Berlin Philharmoniker (Sir Simon Rattle), The Philadelphia Orchestra (Yannick Nézet-Séguin), and The Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra (Gustavo Dudamel). She can also be heard on several choral recordings including James Whitbourn’s Annelies (GRAMMY Nominee, Best Choral Performance), Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra’s Four Questions (GRAMMY winner, Best Latin Jazz Album), and most recently Serenity: The Music of Paul Mealor with The Same Stream Choir. In 2018, Sarah Mae cofounded Ambitious Music, a production company looking to support music teachers and young artists through educational workshops centered around music technology and recording techniques. With the global pandemic changing the rhythm of music education in schools, Ambitious Music has worked with districts across the country to help create virtual choir performances, virtual musicals, and provide online professional development sessions aimed at giving teachers effective and efficient music technology-based strategies to enhance instruction in their virtual classrooms during distance learning. She currently teaches at New Rochelle High School's where she co-directs the school's curricular choirs and is working to build the school's new Music Technology program. In her spare time she does needlepoint, plans extensive dinner parties, and takes thousands of photos of her unbelievably cute nephew Theodore. |
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Vocal Music Director
Vocal Music, Music Technology, & Musical Theater |
NEW ROCHELLE HIGH SCHOOL
Director of NRHS Chorale & Vocal Ensemble. Vocal Music teacher for renowned PAVE Vocal Music Program. Developing the high school's new Music Technology program. Vocal Music Director for annual school musical. Vertical Divider
|
Vocal Department Faculty
Contemporary & Recorded Voice |
ARTS HIGH SCHOOL
Full time voice teacher for Vocal Music Department at Arts High School in Newark, New Jersey. Classes include Sight Singing, Aural Skills, Choral Ensemble, Contemporary Vocal Technique, and Recorded Vocal Music. Vertical Divider
|
Music Director
Musical Theater & Choir |
BROOKLYN HIGH SCHOOL OF THE ARTS
Director of BHSA Women’s Choir and Freshman Choir. Music director and vocal director for annual school musical. Classes include choir, music theory, and musical theater. Vertical Divider
|
Voice Faculty
Guest Teacher |
WESTMINSTER COLLEGE OF THE ARTS AT RIDER UNIVERSITY
Contemporary Vocal Institute for High School summer program. Responsibilities include group lessons in pop and jazz technique, sectional rehearsals for the vocal jazz group, elective classes in audition preparation and performance master classes Vertical Divider
|
Vocal Department Faculty
Choral Director & Vocal Music Teacher |
LAGUARDIA HS OF MUSIC & ART AND PERFORMING ARTS
Full time Choral Director/Voice Teacher for Vocal Music Department. Director of the LaGuardia Girls Chorus and Freshman Chorus. Classes included: Introduction to Sight Singing for Vocal Majors, Freshman Class Voice (Italian Art Song & German Lieder), and Sophomore Class Voice (French & English Art Song). Vertical Divider
|
AWARDS
The Milken Education Award
SY 2021-2022 |
For 35 years, the Milken Educator Awards have rewarded and inspired excellence in the world of education by honoring top educators around the country with $25,000 unrestricted awards. The Milken Educator Awards identifies outstanding K–12 teachers, principals and specialists who are furthering excellence in education.
Vertical Divider
|
Teacher of the Year
SY 2020-2021 |
Awarded by Arts High School in Newark, New Jersey
Vertical Divider
|
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Music
|
WESTMINSTER CHOIR COLLEGE
BM Music Education, Magna Cum Laude Vertical Divider
|
Master of Music
|
SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY
MM Music Technology and Performance Vertical Divider
|
Vertical Divider
CHORAL PERFORMANCES
|
|
|
|
CONTACT
For more information regarding guest teaching,
music directing, audio engineering, or singing engagements
[email protected]
music directing, audio engineering, or singing engagements
[email protected]