About.
Sarah Fisher is a percussionist and pianist based in Gateshead, North East England. Sarah is a skilled community musician working across the country in a variety of settings, with people of all ages and abilities.
Having studied Community Music at undergraduate level through Sunderland University in 2012-2015, Sarah went on to complete her Masters in Community Music with The International Centre of Community Music at York St John University.
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Sarah's works as a music facilitator and has worked across the UK with a number of organisations, including;
Sage Gateshead - project musician
Drake Music - associate musician
Sonic Bothy - Music facilitator
Sunderland Music Hub - freelance music facilitator
Amongst many others.
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Notable projects have included:
GRAEae Theatre Company's Reasons to Be Cheerful tour UK, music facilitator
Drake Music - Planted Symphony installment
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Sarah also has Cerebral Palsy and a hyperkinetic movement disorder which affects her left side and speech.
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As well as being a facilitator, Sarah is also a keen performer and has performed at numerous events and places around the country.
Performances have included:
A member of the Pandemonium Drummers, the volunteer drummers from the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony.
Drummer at the UEFA Championship Final 2013 at Wembley.
North East disability sports awards
National Lottery Awards 2019 (TV snippet)
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In 2017, Sarah received funding from Unlimited, in partnership with Sage Gateshead, and developed her own show -'TWITCH- which combined music, disability and humour to showcase her developing artistic identity as a musician with a disability.
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Twitch was a success in 2017 and following this, Sarah received Arts Council England funding to tour Twitch across the UK in Liverpool, Gateshead and Birmingham in 2018-2019.
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When not performing or leading sessions as a musician Sarah works as a visiting lecturer at various universities in the UK - Sunderland, York St John, Bath Spa and Aberdeen University, teaching around community music and inclusion.
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She facilitates Inclusive music training for organisations, schools, and charities, amongst others.
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Sarah is a regular presenter and keynote speaker at various conferences annually around the topic of Community Music, Disability, and Inclusion.
These have included :
The International Society of Music Education's Community Music Activity Conference in Edinburgh - 2016
International Centre of Community Music Symposium, 2016, 2017, 2019
Mindsight Conference - 2015
OHMI Trust - 2018
NYMAZ SEND Conference - 2018, 2021
Training the Community Musician, 2019, 2022
Bradford Music and Arts Annual Music Conference - (Keynote) 2022
Amongst various others.
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Today Sarah is a trustee and sits on the Board for
SoundSense, Evolve Music and NYMAZ SEND Group
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Sarah continues to focus on developing her career and is in regular talks with high profile organisations to develop the music sector in the hope of it being as inclusive as possible.
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