22-25 April 2026

Sarah Peters

Sarah Peters is a web developer at Georgetown University, building and maintaining web solutions for the Office of Advancement. She began her development career at Crema, a digital product agency in Kansas City, where she worked as an Application Developer. A graduate of Prime Digital Academy, Sarah brings a unique perspective to software development, drawing from her previous career as a professional violinist. Before transitioning to tech, Sarah performed with orchestras such as the Kansas City Symphony and New World Symphony; she currently plays with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Baltimore Chamber Orchestra (when time permits!). She has been featured as a chamber musician on Kansas Public Radio Live and has appeared at festivals including the New York String Orchestra Seminar, Tanglewood Music Center, and the Lakes Area Music Festival. She received her Bachelor of Music and Graduate Diploma in Violin Performance from the New England Conservatory in Boston. Her experience in both the arts and technology informs her approach to problem-solving, collaboration, and continuous learning. Sarah currently lives in Washington, DC, with her husband, a member of “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band, and their two children.

Sessions for 2026

From Concert Hall to Code Review, Symphony to Software
 

As a professional violinist turned software developer, I have spent years working in two high-stakes, deeply collaborative environments. In fact, for a full year, I held two full-time jobs: one as a section violinist in the Kansas City Symphony, the other as a software developer building applications for a Top 3 Consulting Firm. Now, as a full-time developer at Georgetown University, I still find time to play as a substitute with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. While they might sound like wildly different careers (and in some ways, they are!), the skills from one world to the other are transferable. In both the music and tech worlds, success isn’t just about individual skill, it’s about how people work together. Whether playing in an orchestra or working on a new feature development with a development team, I have learned that great teams share these common traits: trust, communication, adaptability, and a shared vision.