Sarah Hoover, D.M.A.

As Associate Dean for Innovation in the Arts and Health at the Peabody Institute, Sarah Hoover is responsible for advancing initiatives that link the performing arts and health within the Peabody Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine, and entities within the university and Baltimore community. Since her arrival at Peabody, Hoover has advocated for the health of Peabody’s musicians and dancers through developing curriculum and co-curricular programs to prevent injury and optimize performance, facilitated the creation of the Peabody Clinic for Performing Artists, and supported the start-up of a research lab in performance science. With partners at Johns Hopkins Medicine and in collaboration with Peabody’s first Bloomberg Distinguished Professor Dr. Kris Chesky, she is laying the groundwork for a transdisciplinary convergence at the intersection of performing arts and health, encompassing research, clinical care, education, and advocacy to advance health in and through the performing arts.

Hoover’s research in the field of arts in health has led to the development of bedside and lobby music programs at Johns Hopkins Hospital as well as creative aging residencies and sensory-friendly concerts. She has launched Peabody Prescribe, a community arts entity within the Preparatory offering arts experiences to support health and well-being developed in collaboration with researchers and clinicians from Johns Hopkins Medicine. Along with her book, Music as Care: Artistry in the Hospital Environment, the leading text for preparing classically-trained musicians to work in hospitals, these clinical and community programs build educational and experiential career pathways for artists in health contexts. To advance professionalization of the field, Hoover serves as a member of the board of the National Organization for Arts in Health, where she is leading the development of a certification process for artists in healthcare.