Sarah Frances Jenkins

Sarah is one of seven composers selected for a place on the 2024 RPS Composers programme. This has culminated in her writing a new piece, commissioned by the RPS, for The Marian Consort.

On this page, Sarah introduces herself in her own words, and shares links to her music, her website, and her social media platforms. We warmly invite programmers and commissioners to take a closer look at Sarah's work, and please be in touch with us if you would like to connect with her.

About Sarah

'I am a composer and clarinettist from Oxford. During my undergraduate degree in clarinet performance at RWCMD I was mentored by composer John Hardy. In 2022, I completed my master's degree in clarinet and composition at the RCM. Since winning BBC Young Composer in 2017, my music has been commissioned and premiered by ensembles including the BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Aurora Orchestra, Gould Piano Trio, Solem Quartet, Psappha, Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective and the Gaudier Ensemble.

I strive to use the different facets of my musical identity to nurture meaningful connections and collaborations and to communicate with as wide a range of people as possible. Heavily influenced by the natural world, I am driven to create striking, atmospheric and immersive sound worlds that ebb, flow and mutate. I aim to write music that speaks to people both inside and outside of the concert hall. I am currently collaborating as a composer with the Odyssey Ensemble, which advocates for the dignity of vulnerable migrants through the power of music. Outreach and community education projects are a hugely important part of my work - I am a BBC Proms Ambassador and have experience in leading creative workshops for school children.'

Highlights

  • Sarah's work, 'Shivelight’ for clarinet and piano, featured on the CD ‘Isotonic: Commissions for Clarinet by Burrell, Watkins, Boden and Jenkins’ commissioned by clarinettist Robert Plane and released on Resonus Classics in July 2023.
  • Sarah composed the cantata ‘The Water’s Edge’, based on ideas created during music workshops that she led, involving five primary schools in the Welsh Marches, which the children performed in June 2023.
  • Her piece, ‘Music and Meditation’, was premiered at the BBC Proms by the BBC Concert Orchestra and conductor Kwamé Ryan, on 1 September 2022.
  • Sarah was appointed the first ever Presteigne Festival ‘Emerge Composer’ for 2022-2024.
  • Her work, 'And the Sun Stood Still’, was commissioned and premiered by the BBC Concert Orchestra and conductor Bramwell Tovey at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, London in December 2018, and broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.

Shivelight

Veiled Dawn

Find out more

If you are interested in finding out more about Sarah, hearing and and keeping up to date with her work, take a look at her website and social media below:

We are dearly grateful to RPS Members and a range of donors for supporting the RPS Composers programme, including the Delius Trust, The Fidelio Charitable Trust, Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation, Idlewild Trust, John Ellerman Foundation, Presteigne Festival, PRS Foundation Talent Development Network supported by PPL, the Radcliffe Trust, the RPS Susan Bradshaw Composers' Fund, the Vaughan Williams Foundation, and several anonymous donors.