Alumni Spotlight: Sara Corry
Music composition alum Sara Corry (B.M. ’10) has built a career defined by versatility and experimentation as a military composer and arranger for The U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own.”
Sara Corry (B.M. ’10) is this week’s featured alum in our new Alumni Spotlight series for the This Week at Meadows e-newsletter. Each week, a different Meadows alum will be highlighted for their accomplishments post-graduation.
A career in music composition can take many forms, but Division of Music alum Sara Corry’s career has taken her places even she could not have predicted. As a military composer and arranger for The U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own,” Corry has written music for presidential events, international ceremonies, and even artists including Zac Brown Band, Chris Stapleton and H.E.R.
Corry credits her time in Meadows’ music composition program with teaching her to think expansively about where a composition degree could lead. Rather than being pushed toward a particular style or career path, she was encouraged to develop her technical abilities while experimenting across disciplines and becoming adaptable to a wide range of projects.
“Meadows gave me the confidence to think broadly about what a career in composition could look like,” says Corry, who made history as the first woman to serve as a full-time Staff Arranger for “Pershing’s Own,” and the first to hold such a position in any U.S. military band. “I was challenged to become a versatile musician and think beyond traditional boundaries.”
That versatility is now a defining feature of Corry’s work. While her title may conjure images of traditional military marches, her assignments range from contemporary concert music and jazz arrangements to White House ceremonies and international diplomacy. She has composed an original fanfare for NATO’s 75th anniversary, arranged Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical” for brass quintet and tackled complex assignments that require music to accommodate everything from multiple ensembles to timed fireworks displays.
Chris Stapleton and H.E.R. performing one of Corry's compositions.
Her willingness to embrace unusual creative challenges traces back to Meadows, where small composition classes gave Corry direct access to faculty who treated students as emerging professionals and gave them room to experiment. Whether she wanted to combine electronics with dance or bring a fog machine into O’Donnell Hall to test an idea, Corry says faculty helped her find ways to make it happen rather than discouraging the attempt.
The spirit of exploration has remained central to Corry’s career, especially as she stepped into a role no woman had held before her. While she considers becoming the first woman to serve as a full-time Staff Arranger for “Pershing’s Own” an honor, she also recognizes the responsibility that accompanies it.
“Any time you’re the first person to do something, you’re navigating territory that wasn’t really built with you in mind,” Corry explains. “But I’ve always believed the best response is to do the work well, be someone people enjoy working with, and leave the door a little wider open for whoever comes next. I hope one day it won’t be noteworthy that a woman is doing this job, I hope it’s simply normal.”
She now brings that same openness to her role as a Meadows Mentor, encouraging students not to feel pressured to define their careers too narrowly or too early. Her own seemingly unrelated interests and experiences have repeatedly found unexpected ways to intersect, reinforcing her belief that fulfilling careers often emerge where multiple interests overlap.
Her work has also shown Corry how music can create connections far beyond the concert stage. Through state visits, military ceremonies, royal visits, and international partnerships, she has seen music serve not simply as entertainment, but as a way of showing respect, building relationships and creating shared experiences.
For Corry, contributing to those moments has become one of the most meaningful and unexpected parts of a career that continues to demonstrate just how far a life in music composition can reach.