Sarah Class

Sarah Class is an English composer, singer and songwriter, described by HMV Classical Reviews magazine as 'one of Britain's brightest young musical stars'.

Biography

Sarah Class was born in Watford. Having written music and poetry from an early age and performing as a vocalist and pianist in bands since she was a teenager, Class found her inspiration in the lush woodlands, rolling hills and seascapes of the Isle of Wight.[1]

Class graduated with a BA (Hons) in music and art from Chichester University, Sussex, England, and immediately thereafter, began to write extensively in Europe and North America on a number of album, TV and film projects, notably the score for the independent feature The Weekend, starring Gena Rowlands and Brooke Shields. This brought Class's talent to the attention of the record producer Sir George Martin, who took her under the wing of his publishing company George Martin Music.[2]

During this time Class established herself as a prolific contemporary composer, her works being premiered both in the UK and abroad. In 2001, Warner Classics asked Class to provide all the music for their crossover album, Aurora-Cantamus.[3] The album enjoyed a Top 5 status in the UK for several weeks following its release, gaining a Classical BRIT Best Album nomination.

Class's achievements also include the triple platinum album Pure, for Decca artiste Hayley Westenra in 2003, produced by Giles Martin. Class wrote and produced two tracks, including "Across The Universe of Time", which was the title track on the European release. The album enjoyed a reception in Australasia, and charted at No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart over a three-month period.[1]

In 2005, Class toured and recorded as a jazz pianist and vocalist with Helen J Hicks's band 'The Honeyriders' on their album Letting The Light In. The tour included live performances at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in Soho and the Cannes Film Festival. Class also took part in a European tour with BBC Radio 3's Senegalese group 'Suuf' as a keyboard player. Her work with Martin continued through her ongoing collaboration with Eimear Quinn, winner of 1996 Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland. This project combines Quinn's ethereal vocals with Class's filmscape arrangements. One of the songs, "Another Day" was featured on Quinn's 2006 release, Gatherings.[1]

Class released of her debut solo EP "A New Dawn", through Glorious Technicolour Records.

Sarah was commissioned to compose the score for an award winning Finnish feature film ‘Mystery of the Wolf.’ This was followed by the BBC/Harvey Weinstein 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 Class to compose and produce the music for the 6 x 1 hour series titled ‘Africa’ Africa (TV Series) narrated by Sir David Attenborough. This series went to air in the UK in January 2013 and has received massive critical acclaim from both the Media and Press. This epic series has sold to in excess of 150 countries including the USA, with transmission dates across the world.

Class' debut album Unity was released in 2015, working with 8 times Grammy award winner, American Producer Jay Newland (Norah Jones, Gregory Porter).

In 2016 wrote the music to the internationally acclaimed Warner Brothers /Terramater Feature, Brothers of the Wind and also UK Director Peter Nicholson’s debut feature Dartmoor Killings which won Best Thriller in the 2016 National Film Awards UK.

TV

Class's TV credits include numerous projects for the BBC, LWT, Channel 4, Disney, and The Discovery Channel. Her relationship with the BBC is long-standing. She has written scores for some of their natural history films, amongst them Deep Trouble, the sequel to The Blue Planet, Millennium specialThe Greatest Show on Earthand the soundtrack for the flagship David Attenborough series, The State of the Planet in 2000. The score also featured Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits on guitar. Her scor was nominated for an EMMY Award. Her original score for another major David Attenborough project, Animal Forensics, was also nominated for a Royal Television Society Award in 2005.[2]

A recent score was for the 2009 film The Meerkats. The soundtrack featured vocals from Class and an African choir with full orchestra. The film won the 2009 Silver Teton Award at Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival.[4]

Credits

Film score

"2016"

  • Brothers of the Wind"

"2015"

  • "Dartmoor Killing"

“2008”

  • "Meerkats”

“2006”

  • "Suden Arvoitus (aka Mystery of the Wolf)”

“2004”

  • "L'ennemi naturel”

“2003”

  • "Harry Potter (DVD Release)”

“2000”

  • "The Weekend”

TV Score

"2017"

  • Lion Kingdom" (3 Part Series)

"2013"

  • "Africa" (6 Part series))

"2011"

  • "Madagascar" (3 Part series)

“2010”

  • "Blitz Street" (4 part series)

“2009”

  • "Time Team – Henry VIII's Lost Palaces”

“2008”

  • "Thames Shipwrecks – A Race Against Time”

“2007”

  • "Trial & Retribution”
  • "Inside Extraordinary Humans: Science of Conjoined Twins”

“2006”

  • “The Kindness of Strangers”
  • “The Commander: Blacklight”

“2005”

  • “Animal Forensics (6 part series)”

“2004”

  • “World’s Worst Century”
  • “Children of Abraham”
  • “The Black Death"

“2003”

  • “The Commander”
  • “Peregrine – Top Gun of the Sky”
  • “Abused and Catholic”

“2002”

  • “Heroes of Ground Zero”
  • “The Day I Died”
  • “Dogfight – Who Killed The Red Baron?”
  • “Beasts on the Street”

“2001”

  • “The Blue Planet – Deep Trouble (ep.9)”

“2000”

  • “State of the Planet (3 part series)”
  • “The Greatest Wildlife Show on Earth”
  • “Wilderness Men”

“1999”

  • “Grüne Inseln im steinernen Meer”
  • “Equinox – Talking With Aliens”
  • “Born to be Wild (with Nicholas Lyndhurst)”
  • “Soca – Der smaragdene Fluß (aka Soca – The Emerald River)”
  • “Consumed by Fire”

"1997"

  • "The Voyage of The Mathew" (with Peter Snow)

Album credits

“2009”

  • “A New Dawn (singer/songwriter)”

“2007”

  • “Hayley Westenra – Treasure (writer)”

“2006”

  • “Mystery of the Wolf – Soundtrack (singer/songwriter)”
  • “Eimear Quinn – Gatherings (writer)”
  • “They Call Me Hansi – Across the Universe of Time (writer/producer/remix)”

“2004”

  • “Hayley Westenra – Pure (Writer, Arranger)”

“2003”

  • “Suuf – Debbo Hande (pianist/writer)”

“2001”

  • “Cantamus – Aurora (producer/writer, arranger)”

References
  1. "Respect Music". Respectmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  2. "Hot House". Hot-house-music.com. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  3. "AllMusic | Record Reviews, Streaming Songs, Genres & Bands". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  4. "Jackson Hole Film Festival Finalists". Archived from the original on 4 July 2009. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
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