![Dessa and Minnesota Orchestra conductor Sarah Hicks bumped fists at the end of the concert. ] JEFF WHEELER • jeff.wheeler@startribune.com](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/TDJUCGFNRJNMT3SZU67Q6AEPEM.jpg?fit=crop&crop=faces&w=550&&auto=format)
The Minnesota Orchestra has extended its contract with conductor Sarah Hicks, host of the live broadcasts it began amid the pandemic.
Hicks will continue leading its "Live at Orchestra Hall" concerts through the 2023-24 season, the nonprofit announced Tuesday morning.
Based in San Francisco, Hicks joined the orchestra in 2006 and was hired as principal pops conductor in 2009. Her contract expired at the end of the 2020-21 season.
In addition to overseeing "Live at Orchestra Hall," which includes popular music, jazz and movie scores, she became the face of the livestream and broadcast series it started last year called "This Is Minnesota Orchestra." She hosted 18 broadcasts — and conducted three of them.
She'll continue in that role, as well.
"My connection with the Minnesota Orchestra and our audiences has only grown through the pandemic," Hicks said in a press release, "and I can't wait to step on the podium again this fall at Orchestra Hall."
The orchestra did not release the financial terms of the three-year extension.
Hicks is also known for conducting concerts featuring Minnesota's most popular musical artists. In 2019, she and the orchestra recorded a live album with Dessa, released on the Doomtree Records label.
She also leads the orchestra when it plays live scores for movies, including "Black Panther" next month. A few years back, she likened the tricky, technical work of conducting such concerts to "playing a demented video game."
