About.
Sarah Fisher is a percussionist and pianist based in Gateshead, North East England. In 2015 she graduated with a First Class honours degree in Community Music from Sunderland University, where she studied at Sage Gateashead, as well as receiving the Ede and Ravenscroft prize. In 2019, Sarah graduated from York St John University with a Masters in Community Music with distinction.
Sarah has Cerebral Palsy and a hyperkinetic movement disorder which affects her left side and speech.
Sarah now works as a music facilitator in a number of settings, teaching people of all ages and abilities. Including; Sage Gateshead's Community Music Spark Programme where she worked with young people with additional needs.
Sarah started working for Drake Music in 2017 including co-leading a project with other music facilitators in Liverpool. Throughout 2018 Sarah worked in a SEN/D school working with children with additional needs to facilitate music sessions to engage with music predominantly through music tech.
In Summer 2017, Sarah worked for GRAEae Theatre Company as a music facilitator leading song writing sessions across the country as part of the Reasons To Be Cheerful tour.
As well as being a facilitator, Sarah is also a keen performer and has performed at numerous events and places around the country. Sarah is a member of the Pandemonium Drummers, the volunteer drummers from the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony. They have performed at numerous events since 2012 including the UEFA Championship Final 2013 at Wembley and are a frequent act at the Lord Mayor's New Years Day Parade in London as well as many other charity and sporting events across the country.
Since joining Sage Gateshead as a student in 2012, Sarah has developed her skills as a piano composer and performer. She has performed numerous times in the various halls there and other North East venues. In March 2017, she developed her own show -'Twitch'- which combined music, disability and humour to showcase her developing artistic identity as a musician with a disability.
Across 2018 and 2019, Sarah toured her show Twitch across the country in Liverpool, Gateshead and Birmingham.
Sarah has a keen interest in research and has undertaken different research projects into the influence of adaptive music facilitation developed from her own learning as well as the influence it has on other facilitators with disabilities. In 2016 she presented her findings at the International Society of Music Education's Community Music Activity Conference in Edinburgh as well as the International Centre of Community Music's conference in November 2016. Throughout summer 2017 Sarah undertook a new research idea around the impact of her pedagogical approach on other musicians with disabilities through her work at Sage Gateshead's Community Music Spark Programme.
Sarah continues to focus on developing her career and is eager to increase musical opportunities to people of all ages and abilities.