Sarah Class
Encyclopedia
Sarah Class is an English
composer
, singer and songwriter
. Described by HMV
Classical Reviews magazine as 'one of Britain’s brightest young musical stars', Her style is both "hauntingly ethereal and sensual, mingling folky influences and a powerfully romantic blend of orchestral and electronic sonorities". She is now one of Britain
’s most sought-after young composers.
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
.
Growing up on a nature reserve
on the north of the island, Class was encouraged and inspired by her musical and nature conservationist
father. Class developed a deep regard for the environment, only matched by her love of a good melody, singing and songwriting. It has been this spiritual backdrop to her formative years which has profoundly influenced her music, whether it be a score for a film, or lyrically driven song.
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 in 1999, 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.
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 success, Aurora-Cantamus. 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 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 #1 in the UK Albums Chart
over a three month period.
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 Senegal
ese 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.
Class recently ventured fully into the popular music
scene for the first time, with the release of her debut solo EP
"A New Dawn", through Glorious Technicolour Records. Written and produced by Class (with collaborations on the production of some tracks), the EP blended together aspects of various genres including pop
, folk
, acoustic
and world music
.
, LWT
, Channel 4
, Disney, and The Discovery Channel. Her relationship with the BBC is particularly long-standing and Class has written scores for some of their natural history
films. Particularly, the environmental sequel to The Blue Planet
– Deep Trouble, The Greatest Show On Earth (A Millennium special) and the soundtrack for the flagship David Attenborough
series, The State of the Planet in 2000. The score also featured Mark Knopfler
of Dire Straits
making a guest appearance on guitar. Her score for this 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.
A recent and outstanding score among Class's credits is for film The Meerkats
in 2009, a Weinstein
/BBC
/Yaffle Films production directed by James Honeyborne
. 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.
“2006”
“2004”
“2003”
“1999”
“2009”
“2008”
“2007”
“2006”
“2005”
“2004”
“2003”
“2002”
“2001”
“2000”
“1999”
“1998”
“2007”
“2006”
“2004”
“2003”
“2001”
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, singer and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
. Described by HMV
HMV Group
HMV is a British global entertainment retail chain and is the largest of its kind in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company also operates in Hong Kong and Singapore. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE Fledgling Index...
Classical Reviews magazine as 'one of Britain’s brightest young musical stars', Her style is both "hauntingly ethereal and sensual, mingling folky influences and a powerfully romantic blend of orchestral and electronic sonorities". She is now one of Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
’s most sought-after young composers.
Biography
Class was born in London. Having written musicMusic
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
and poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
from an early age and performing as a vocalist and pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
in bands since she was a teenager, Class found her inspiration in the lush woodlands, rolling hills and seascapes of the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
.
Growing up on a nature reserve
Nature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
on the north of the island, Class was encouraged and inspired by her musical and nature conservationist
Conservationist
Conservationists are proponents or advocates of conservation. They advocate for the protection of all the species in an ecosystem with a strong focus on the natural environment...
father. Class developed a deep regard for the environment, only matched by her love of a good melody, singing and songwriting. It has been this spiritual backdrop to her formative years which has profoundly influenced her music, whether it be a score for a film, or lyrically driven song.
Class graduated with a BA (Hons) in music and art from Chichester University, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and immediately thereafter, began to write extensively in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
on a number of album, TV and film projects, notably the score for the independent feature The Weekend in 1999, starring Gena Rowlands
Gena Rowlands
Gena Rowlands is an American actress of film, stage and television. The four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner is best known for her collaborations with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, in two of which, Gloria and A Woman Under the Influence, she gave Academy...
and Brooke Shields
Brooke Shields
Brooke Christa Shields is an American actress and model. Some of her better-known movies include Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon, as well as TV shows such as Suddenly Susan, That '70s Show and Lipstick Jungle....
. This brought Class's talent to the attention of the record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Sir George Martin
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...
, who took her under the wing of his publishing company George Martin Music.
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 success, Aurora-Cantamus. The album enjoyed a Top 5 status in the UK for several weeks following its release, gaining a Classical BRIT
Classical Brit Awards
The Classic BRIT Awards are an annual awards ceremony held in the United Kingdom covering aspects of classical music, and are the classical equivalent of pop music's BRIT Awards....
Best Album nomination.
Class's achievements also include the triple platinum album Pure, for Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
artiste Hayley Westenra
Hayley Westenra
Hayley Dee Westenra is a New Zealand soprano, classical crossover artist, songwriter and UNICEF Ambassador. Her first internationally released album, Pure, reached No. 1 on the UK classical charts in 2003 and has sold more than two million copies worldwide...
in 2003, produced by Giles Martin
Giles Martin
Giles Martin is an English record producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is the son of Sir George Martin, famed producer of almost all of The Beatles' records.- Biography :...
. Class wrote two tracks, including "Across The Universe of Time", which was the title track on the European release. The album enjoyed a reception in Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
, and charted at #1 in the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
over a three month period.
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
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club which has operated in London since 1959.The club opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street in London's Soho district. It was managed by musicians Ronnie Scott and Pete King. In 1965 it moved to a larger venue nearby at 47 Frith Street...
in Soho and the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
. Class also took part in a European tour with BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
’s Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
ese group 'Suuf' as a keyboard player. Her work with Martin continued through her ongoing collaboration with Eimear Quinn
Eimear Quinn
Eimear Quinn is an Irish singer. Dublin born Eimear joined her first choir at four years of age and at fifteen she started formal vocal training at the College of Music under the tutelage of Jody Beggan. Eimear later graduated with a degree in Music from National University of Ireland Maynooth...
, winner of 1996 Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
for Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. 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.
Class recently ventured fully into the popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
scene for the first time, with the release of her debut solo EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
"A New Dawn", through Glorious Technicolour Records. Written and produced by Class (with collaborations on the production of some tracks), the EP blended together aspects of various genres including pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
and world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
.
TV
Class's TV credits include numerous projects for the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, LWT
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
, Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, Disney, and The Discovery Channel. Her relationship with the BBC is particularly long-standing and Class has written scores for some of their natural history
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
films. Particularly, the environmental sequel to The Blue Planet
The Blue Planet
The Blue Planet is a BBC nature documentary series narrated by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the UK from 12 September 2001.Described as "the first ever comprehensive series on the natural history of the world's oceans", each of the eight 50-minute episodes examines a different aspect of...
– Deep Trouble, The Greatest Show On Earth (A Millennium special) and the soundtrack for the flagship David Attenborough
David Attenborough
Sir David Frederick Attenborough OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FZS, FSA is a British broadcaster and naturalist. His career as the face and voice of natural history programmes has endured for more than 50 years...
series, The State of the Planet in 2000. The score also featured Mark Knopfler
Mark Knopfler
Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
of Dire Straits
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
making a guest appearance on guitar. Her score for this was nominated for an EMMY Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
.
Her original score for another major David Attenborough project, Animal Forensics, was also nominated for a Royal Television Society
Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
Award in 2005.
A recent and outstanding score among Class's credits is for film The Meerkats
The Meerkats
The Meerkats is a feature-length 2008 British wildlife fiction film which anthropomorphises the daily struggles of a clan of meerkats in the Kalahari Desert. It was produced by BBC Films and The Weinstein Company, and filmed by the award-winning BBC Natural History Unit...
in 2009, a Weinstein
The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company is an American film studio founded by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in 2005 after the brothers left the then-Disney-owned Miramax Films, which they had co-founded in 1979...
/BBC
BBC Films
BBC Films is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including An Education, StreetDance 3D, Fish Tank, Stage Beauty, A Cock and Bull Story, Nativity! and Match Point.It aims to make strong British films with...
/Yaffle Films production directed by James Honeyborne
James Honeyborne
James Honeyborne is the director of The Meerkats feature film and the producer and director of many award-winning BBC wildlife documentaries.Honeyborne attended Ampleforth College and studied biology at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne...
. The soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
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.
Film score
“2008”- “Meerkats”
“2006”
- “Suden Arvoitus (aka Mystery of the Wolf)”
“2004”
- “L’ennemi naturel”
“2003”
- “Harry Potter (DVD Release)”
“1999”
- “The Weekend”
TV Score
“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”
“1998”
- “Born to be Wild (with Nicholas Lyndhurst)”
- “Soca – Der smaragdene Fluß (aka Soca – The Emerald River)”
- “Consumed by Fire”
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)”