P R E S S
reviews
Disability Arts Online
"The second track, lending its name to the album title, is from Sarah Lianne Lewis. Here, the focus is on slowing down and peaceful attentiveness, as she takes her inspiration from early motherhood and those morning hours that seem to stand outside of the 24-hour clock that was so familiar before. Lewis makes use of sustain to really draw attention to each note fading and get us to pay close attention to the smallest of changes."
letting the light in
Siwan Rhys
Letting the Light In: Album Review
Musical Opinion
"Sarah Lianne Lewis’s inventive and fluently unfolding score embraced a variety of moods, from the enigmatic, spacious opening paragraphs to delicate, sparely scored episodes, contrasted with urgent, menacing full orchestral statements and finally attaining tender optimism in the closing pages. Lewis has shown an individual and imaginative approach to orchestral writing in diverse scores for the BBC NOW, yet The Island of Never Too Late is surely her most impressive large-scale utterance to date, offering an absorbing and winning introduction to the orchestra for audiences of all ages."
The Island of Never Too Late
BBC National Orchestra of Wales (cond. Grant Llewellyn), Elin Llwyd (narrator), Catherine Roe-Williams (piano)
BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff
BBC Music Magazine
"In the titular, bell-like letting the light in by Sarah Lianne Lewis, Rhys demonstrates nimble adaptivity."
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letting the light in
Siwan Rhys
Letting the Light In: Album Review
The Strad
"... exquisite musical miniatures such as Sarah Lianne Lewis’s achingly poignant Apart we are not alone and Together Apart... Humphreys’s direct, deeply communicative playing, which has a focused, sometimes reedy tone and an easy sense of airy agility that frequently brings her repertoire vividly alive"
Together Apart / Apart we are not alone
Fenella Humphreys
Prism: Album Review
Classical Explorer
"Apart we are not alone and Together Apart (which although separately tracked are referred to the composer as one, "Apart we are not alone / Together Apart” seem decidedly haunted themselves. They exist at low dynamic levels, shadows in sound. Lewis is a composer of great imagination, clearly."
Together Apart / Apart we are not alone
Fenella Humphreys
Prism: Album Review
Marie-Céline
"The music of Welsh composer Sarah Lianne Lewis is full of beautiful imagery, transforming the orchestra into a noisy bestiary… Her score draws on the multitude of sounds that surround us in the world and which she reinvents in music to create a universe that is both unprecedented and familiar. In this educational musical tale for young and old, the piano serves as a landmark in the sonic exploration of misty seascapes and distant, threatened glaciers."
(“La musique de la compositrice galloise Sarah Lianne Lewis est imagée à souhait, puisant dans l’orchestre un tonitruant bestiaire… Sa partition se nourrit de la multitude des sons qui nous entourent dans le monde et qu’elle réinvente en musique pour créer un univers à la fois inouï et familier. Dans ce conte musical éducatif pour petits et grands, le piano sert de repère dans l’exploration sonore de paysages marins brumeux et de glaciers lointains et menacés.”)
L'Île des jamais trop tard (The Island of Never Too Late)
Orchestre National Avignon-Provence
La Scala Provence, Avignon, FRANCE
The Guardian
"Similarly threaded with Celtic melancholy and inspired by Irish writer Kerry Hardie’s poem After My Father Died, the pain of bereavement is contrasted with a hyper-awareness of life. Lewis created ongoing tensions in her vividly contrasting textures, its resolution cathartic, if not consoling."
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The sky didn't fall
BBC National Orchestra of Wales (cond. Emilie Godden)
Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff, UK
Ty Cerdd
"Sarah Lianne Lewis’ new work letting the light in is full of magical colours and in its lilting manner is both extremely familiar and beautifully alien."
letting the light in
Siwan Rhys
ResMusica
"Lewis’ music never falls into the obvious literal illustrations; alternating tonality, atonality, polytonality, rhythmic passages and evanescent episodes, it creates graceful moments for Vanessa Wagner's piano, both alone and with the orchestra, without giving into the temptation of the traditional concerto style."
L'Île des jamais trop tard
Orchestre national de Bretagne (Cond. Johannes Le Pennec), Vanessa Wagner (piano), Céline Milliat-Baumgartner (Narrator)
La Seine Musicale, Paris, FRANCE
Seen and Heard International
"String techniques were cleverly and eclectically appropriated in an engaging and immediately attractive manner. One might actually observe that [...] it was positively catchy. The composer herself described her intention to provide a “joyous sprint through an off-kilter landscape”, and this delineation of purpose was amply achieved."
Tourmaline
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff, UK
Buzz Mag
"[It] had the influence of dance/club music, giving the percussionists a workout in her Tourmaline. A type of stone may have influenced the music; certainly, it had charm and gusto."
Tourmaline
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff, UK
The Guardian
"The sonic explosions were akin to the sparks that start bush and forest fires"
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we watch it burn
UPROAR Ensemble
Arnolfini, Bristol, UK
The Guardian
"The pieces, though, were all new, themed to the venue and intended to draw in passing, unsuspecting audiences..."
* * * *
The Parting Place
Royal Opera House
St Pancras Station, London, UK
The Telegraph
"A marvellous day of opera at St Pancras that never once hit the buffas"
* * * *
The Parting Place
Royal Opera House
St Pancras Station, London, UK
Broadway World
"The Royal Opera House celebrates International Women's Day with performance at St. Pancras International"
The Parting Place
Royal Opera House
St Pancras Station, London, UK
The Guardian
"Her assurance in handling the textures was more than evident."
* * * *
Creatures of Dust and Dreams
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff, UK
interviews and articles
Gramophone
2025 RPS Award winners announced
The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) Awards took place on Thursday 6 March at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. Hosted by BBC Radio 3 presenters Jess Gillam and Tom McKinney, the event featured RPS Chair Angela Dixon presenting trophies to winners across 13 categories, recognising outstanding contributions to the music industry.
PRS for Music
2025 RPS Awards: full winners list
Celebrating classical music’s ‘vibrant vital impact, resonance and reach nationwide’, the 2025 RPS Awards saw the pioneering Paraorchestra, which brings together professional disabled and non-disabled musicians, take home the coveted Ensemble award. Elsewhere, the Chamber-Scale Composition Award was awarded to Welsh composer Sarah Lianne Lewis for letting the light in, while NMC Recordings won the Gamechanger Award.
PRS for Music
Shortlists announced for the 2025 RPS Awards
The shortlists for the 2025 Royal Philharmonic Society Awards have been announced.
The awards celebrate the enduring value of classical music, casting a light on the individuals, groups and initiatives that are musically inspiring communities across the UK.
Ty Cerdd
Medal y Cyfansoddwr shortlist announcement
Following a very popular and competitive open call, Jon Guy, Sarah Lianne Lewis and Owain Gruffudd Roberts have been selected to write for a chamber ensemble from Sinfonia Cymru. They will work with Simmy Singh (violin), David Shaw (violin/viola), Garwyn Linnell (cello) and composer mentor Pwyll ap Siôn in workshops over six months, leading up to a performance at the National Eisteddfod. One of the three composers will be awarded the Medal y Cyfansoddwr.
Ty Cerdd
Selection for CoDI: Tuag Opera programme
Following an open call six early-career music-creators and six early-career writers were selected to explore and create a moment of opera together in the Welsh-language – with support and guidance from music director Iwan Teifion Davies, writer Gwyneth Glyn and Michael McCarthy of Music Theatre Wales.
Ty Cerdd
Shortlist for ISCM World New Music Days 2025
Tŷ Cerdd is pleased to announce the composers and works chosen by the Welsh section of the ISCM (International Society for Contemporary Music) to represent Wales at its World New Music Days 2025 in Portugal. The panel selected a shortlist of six composers’ works/proposals as the official submission to the international jury:
Sortir a Paris
The Island of Never Too Late: The symphonic tale that tells children about the climate emergency
On Sunday March 12, La Seine Musicale presents a show for young audiences, accessible to the youngest. Embark on this underwater odyssey, in the middle of the North Atlantic and discover the fauna and flora of the oceans.
Paris Mômes
L’île Des Jamais Trop Tard
Parce qu’il n’est jamais trop tard (ni trop tôt !) pour découvrir et apprécier la musique classique, La Seine Musicale poursuit sa programmation familiale dans le cadre du Classique du Dimanche, sa série de concerts dédiés aux jeunes publics. Le concert du mois de mars fait la part belle à l’écologie, avec le premier conte symphonique environnemental.
(Because it's never too late (nor too early!) to discover and appreciate classical music, La Seine Musicale is continuing its family program as part of the Classique du Dimanche, its series of concerts dedicated to young audiences. The March concert gives pride of place to ecology, with the first environmental symphonic tale.)
Orchestre National de Bretagne
L’Île des Jamais Trop Tard: Un conte symphonique environnemental. (The Island of Never Too Late: An environmental symphonic tale)
Cette œuvre, écrite pour une récitante, un orchestre et un piano est un conte musical qui souhaite sensibiliser les spectateurs à la protection des océans.
(This work, written for a narrator, an orchestra and a piano, is a musical tale that aims to raise awareness among audience members about the protection of the oceans.)
Morning Star Online
2022 Contemporary Music highlights with Ben Lunn
Among numerous newly commissioned works, one particular composer stood out: Sarah Lianne Lewis. She is currently associated with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW). Her work, Ocean of Stars, is simply astounding. It is scored for cello and a fascinating instrument called the digital harp.
Adverse Camber
Mapping together 3 stunning elements for an extraordinary experience
The creative team behind the immersive re-imagining of The Stars and Their Consolations spent two days at Ffwrnes Theatre earlier this month playing creatively with ancient stories, beautiful projected animations of the night sky, lighting and Sarah Lianne Lewis’s spine-tingling electro acoustic soundscape, complementing the poetry and depth of Daniel Morden and Hugh Lupton’s award winning storytelling.