Sarah Ball has been teaching orchestra for twenty seven years, currently at North Gwinnett Middle School in Sugar Hill, Ga, where she is one of two orchestra directors. The NGMS orchestra program has 575 students enrolled in grades 6-8. The 8th grade orchestra was selected to perform at GMEA in January (2012 and 2024), and received the GMEA Exemplary Performance Award in 2009 and 2015.  In December 2013, the NGMS Honor Orchestra was one of three middle school orchestras selected internationally to perform in Chicago, Illinois at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, and has performed at Carnegie Hall. The NGMS music department was awarded the inaugural Exemplary Program Award from GMEA  (2017-18). 

Mrs. Ball holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Appalachian State University and a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction from Lesley University. She was named the NGMS Teacher of the Year for 2011-12 and was selected as the middle school Teacher of the Year for Gwinnett County. In 2018, Mrs. Ball was chosen as the GA ASTA String Educator of the year and was awarded with the Elizabeth A. H. Green award by the American String Teacher’s Association in March of 2023. She has served as state treasurer and president for GA-ASTA, has served on the national board as member at large, and is currently  the K-12 orchestra curriculum committee chair. Mrs. Ball was the GMEA Orchestra Division Chair, and has also served as Vice President for All-State events. She has held school leadership roles as curriculum and department chair at both Lanier MS and NGMS. Mrs. Ball has presented professional development sessions at the school, county, state and national level including the national ASTA conference and The Ohio State University String Teacher’s Workshop.  She co-authored a chapter in “Rehearsing the School Orchestra” and Volume 4 of Teaching Music Through Performance in Orchestra. She is active as a clinician, adjudicator, and conductor throughout the country. In addition, she is has been on the staff of the GA-ASTA camp for 15 years and serves as a mentor at the local and county level.  Mrs. Ball started violin at the age of 10 in the Henderson County Strings Program (Hendersonville, NC) and currently resides in Johns Creek, Georgia with her husband Jerrod, and their cats, Topsy and Turvy.