Meet our SWMS Tutor Team
Dr Sadie Harrison
Workshop tutor: Foundation Programme
I have been composing, teaching, conducting and performing music for a pretty long time now! I graduated from Surrey University and King’s College, London in the 1990s with a few qualifications including a Phd in Musical Composition. So officially I’m Dr. Sadie! I lectured in composition at Goldsmiths College, London for 10 years, also presenting classes at the Royal Academy, the Royal College, Birmingham Conservatoire, the Royal Welsh and lots of universities both in the UK and abroad. Last year I was the examiner for the composition students at the Royal College of Music which was an incredible privilege. I play the violin in orchestras, (have just taken up the cello – Grade 1 in March!) and have Performance diplomas in piano.
I moved to Dorset in 2002 to concentrate on composing and now have a pretty busy life juggling commissions and teaching. I am very lucky indeed to have had works performed all over the world in some pretty amazing places like Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, Royal Festival Hall and the Lithuanian Philharmonie. I have music on film soundtracks and on 25 CDs, with some more nice things coming out later this year.
I am really interested in working with marginalised people whose creativity is often not recognised and celebrated and have many works composed for disabled musicians, the deaf, refugees and the homeless for example. I’ve just finished a score for a ballet about Afghan female artists (called Uncaged) and an orchestral piece about native American Indians who once inhabited southern Connecticut (called missi-tuk). Both get their first performances in the USA this April.
I went back to studying in 2008 and became an archaeologist for several years, even getting a bit of work on Time Team! Several of my pieces are about ancient musical traditions that are being lost and I am very happy using the music of other people within my own to make a statement about this. (This year I’ve been teaching on the SWMS Foundation course and have been introducing students to folk music from around the world, helping them perform, improvise and write their own pieces. This means that the incredible music from the past is part of the world’s musical future!)
I think it is very important to be versatile as a composer and enjoy writing music in many different styles depending on what’s required by the performers. I love writing music for amateurs and young people and have several pieces on the ABRSM and Trinity exam boards.
I’m very happy to advise SWMS students on:
developing your confidence as a musician and finding a voice that is uniquely and wonderfully yours!
all things composition whether for solo voice or full orchestra, orchestration and arranging (whether you feel you are an advanced composer or have never written a note!)
- using Sibelius and Musescore
- career pathways into composing
- higher education specialising in music
- A level music (I am currently on the Trinity Laban A Level teaching team)
- preparing for university, college and conservatoire auditions
- how to get into peripatetic teaching
