BIOGRAPHY
Award winning, BRIT and Emmy nominated Sarah Class has become one of Britain’s most sought-after composers and is described as having the ‘Midas touch’ when it comes to creating music. She is an accomplished musician, scoring for film, television and the concert arena, producer, songwriter, and singer.
A classically trained pianist from an early age, Sarah developed a huge love of jazz and improvisation. Brought up on a nature reserve in a large unspoilt part of the Isle of Wight, she spent her childhood surrounded by rare orchids, bluebell woods and carpets of wood anemones – something that would come to inspire not just her music, but inform her very way of thinking and living.
Sarah started to quickly make her mark in the world of television and subsequently the film industry. When she was asked to compose the score for an independent feature film titled ‘The Weekend’ (starring Brooke Shields & Gena Rowlands) Sarah caught the attention of legendary producer Sir George Martin who subsequently took her under his wing to help and guide her career.
Sarah continued to compose many works for television. Both for documentary and television drama notably the Lynda La Plante series Trial and Retribution, The Commander and the Kindness of Strangers directed by Tony Smith.
Sarah continued to compose many works for television. She also stepped into the realms of popular music and was commissioned to compose and produce the highly acclaimed album ‘Aurora’ (Warner Classics) with Cantamus, an award-winning all girls choir. This album spent months in the top of the UK Classical Charts and Sarah was nominated for a Classical Brit Award. This was followed by writing and arranging for the #1 Album with Hayley Westenra titled ‘Pure.’
Her next step into film came when Sarah was commissioned to compose the score for an award winning Finnish feature film ‘Mystery of the Wolf.’ She followed this by writing the score for the BBC Films Production of ‘The Meerkats’ in 2008. This movie won ‘Best Score’ at the 2009 Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival. Her compositions for the BBC Series ‘Madagascar’ also received an Emmy Nomination for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Music & Sound’.
In 2012 the BBC/Discovery commissioned Sarah to compose and produce the music for the 6 x 1 hour series ‘BBC Africa’ narrated by Sir David Attenborough. This series went to air in the UK in January 2013 and has received massive critical acclaim from the media. This epic series has sold to in excess of 200 countries including the USA and Sarah won a Gold Spirit Award for Best Score and an Emmy nomination in 2014 for Outstanding Contribution to Music and Sound.
In 2015 Sarah scored Director Peter Nicholson’s debut feature ‘Dartmoor Killing’. This won Best Thriller in the 2016 National Film Awards. Sarah was then asked to write the score for Warner’s and Terra Mater Factual Studios’ Brothers of the Wind starring Jean Reno. The film released in January 2016 to much critical acclaim.
In 2019 Sarah scored ‘Okavango River of Dreams’ filmed by Directors, Dereck and Beverly Joubert for PBS Nature. A 90 minute Feature film and 3 part series for TV, Sarah co-scored the music with fellow South African composer J.B Arthur who conducted the Johannesburg Film Orchestra. Robert Redford fell in love with the film and it opened with its premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
Branching out into the world of popular music, Sarah’s debut Americana album ‘Unity’ was produced by 11 times Grammy Award winning, Jay Newland (Norah Jones/Gregory Porter). The album gained excellent reviews and momentum with Radio play in the UK. Since this time Sarah released the single ‘Northern Shore’, ‘Only Love is Real’ (2017) and ‘I Will Fight’.
A committed environmental campaigner & nature lover, Sarah is also Ambassador for the World Land Trust, working to raise awareness of their environmental projects through her music. Sir David Attenborough, Sir Chris Packham and Steve Backshall are also patrons. WLT has funded the protection of over 2 million acres of rainforest and other habits over the past 30 years. Sir David even made an appearance on Sarah’s music video ‘I Will Fight’, released in conjunction with the World Land Trust to highlight the devastating environmental issues the world is facing.
In 2019 Sarah’s collaboration with Irish singer and composer Eimear Quinn has produced ‘Hibernia’, the single for Eimear’s much anticipated new album released 2020. Sarah also co-produced and arranged some of the other tracks on the album including ‘In Paradisum’ which entered Classic FM’s Hall of Fame April 2021.
In 2020 she independently released her first classical crossover album ‘Natural High’ produced during lockdown with Sinfonia Nord in Iceland. The album presents collaborations with talented solo artists from around the globe including, Eimear Quinn, soprano Aliki, violinist Leah Zeger and singer-songwriter Isaac Waddington. Natural High became the sound track to the World Land Trust’s Save the Chóco Forest campaign in Equador. The music helped to raise above and beyond the target funds of 600,000 and bringing the total amount over £1,000000!
At the end of 2021 Sarah released two singles from her forthcoming predominately Classical album Resonate. Recorded with the accomplished players of Orchestra for the Earth conducted by John Warner at Sir George Martin’s Air Lyndhurst Studios in Hampstead, ‘Resonate’ the single, was specially written for the World Land Trust becoming the soundtrack to their latest campaign in Guatemala. Rhythm of the Earth is a personal commission from His Majesty the King, to highlight the message & ethos of his Terra Carta project at the 2021 COP26 Climate conference in Glasgow. The piece was premiered with, (the then) HRH The Prince of Wales at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum at the Terra Carta Seal Awards during the Glasgow conference. Both pieces are part of a diverse, cinematic album intermingling between genres and encompassing both the epic & the intimate, from highly lyrical & emotive classical concertos, soaring choral musical panoramas, to folk-inspired melodies & popular singer~songwriter style pieces. The album also features a cover version of ‘Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)’. Resonate was released February 4th 2022.
2022 also saw the release of the single ‘Naiades of Nymphes‘ – a duet sung in Ancient Greek with the soprano Eimear Quinn; in August the debut performance of the famous “Giraffe Fight sequence” from the series BBC Africa at the BBC Earth Prom Royal Albert Hall, and “Blackbird” from Resonate on BBC Woman’s Hour. Also in this busy year, Sarah composed the music to the National Geographic 10 part series, America’s National Parks (narrated by Garth Brooks) with co-composer Barnaby Taylor.
In 2023 Sarah was commissioned by HM King Charles to write a special piece for the Coronation. Sacred Fire is sung by South African Soprano Pretty Yende with lyrics by poet and lyricist Grahame Davies.
Her work on HM King Charles III Sustainable Markets Initiative, providing the music to films about innovative scientists and businesses, working to create sustainability solutions and leveraging global transition in terms of a sustainable future for the planet, is ongoing.