Sarah Jenkins joined the Musicians' Company Young Artists' Programme after winning our Silver Medal at the #RoyalWelshCollegeofMusicandDrama in 2020. Here she performs Miklos Rozsa's Sonatina for Solo Clarinet, Op. 27: I. Tema con variazioni and II. Vivo e giocoso. Sarah says: "For my #MiddayMusic video, I have chosen to perform Miklos Rozsa’s wonderful ‘Sonatina for Solo Clarinet’ as it is such an expressive, vibrant piece of music that really demonstrates the versatility and expressive qualities of the clarinet. Rozsa was an incredibly versatile composer – for his film scores he won three Academy Awards and was nominated sixteen times for Best Original Score. In an interview, Rozsa described how his experience of growing up in Hungary hearing lots of beautiful unaccompanied folk music had inspired him to explore writing several unaccompanied solos for different instruments. The Sonatina for Solo Clarinet was composed in 1957 and is comprised of two movements. The first is a beautiful theme and variations movement that is full of beautiful passages of intense lyricism and lively rhythmic sections. The second is a fiery, dancing, virtuosic and playful movement that propels to a thrilling conclusion. The contrasting characters and feelings that Rozsa captures in the music makes the piece a real joy to perform! I have turned to this piece again and again over the past few months, as the music contains so many different emotions, atmospheres and characters. It has been really uplifting, thought-provoking and joyful to rediscover and explore the piece during this time. I hope you enjoy the piece as much as I do." Sarah is a clarinettist and composer based in the UK. Since winning BBC Young Composer in 2017, Sarah has been commissioned by ensembles and organisations such as the BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Aurora Orchestra and the Cheltenham Music Festival. In 2018, Sarah received a commission to write for the BBC Concert Orchestra: And the Sun Stood Still was premiered by the orchestra and Principal Conductor Bramwell Tovey at the Queen Elizabeth Hall and was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. As a clarinettist, Sarah has performed as principal clarinet with the Royal College of Music Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Martyn Brabbins. Sarah has performed as Principal Clarinet in the Young Musician’s Symphony Orchestra. In Cardiff, she was accepted on to the Orchestral Placement Schemes with both the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the Welsh National Opera. A passionate believer in the power of music education, Sarah has been a BBC Proms Inspire Ambassador since 2017, where she helps to facilitate creative music workshops for young people. Sarah graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama with a First Class Honours Degree and the Principal’s Award for Music in July 2020. In September 2020, Sarah began a postgraduate degree in clarinet and composition at the Royal College of Music, London, where she is taught by Timothy Lines and Richard Hosford. Her studies are generously supported by a Royal College of Music Scholarship and a Help Musicians UK Postgraduate Award. -------------------------------------------------- Musicians' Company Profile - http://www.wcom.org.uk/yeoman/sarah-jenkins About our Silver Medals - http://www.wcomarchive.org.uk/--silver-medals Sarah's Website - http://www.sarahfrancesjenkins.com Sarah's Twitter - http://twitter.com/S_F_Jenkins Sarah's Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/sarah.f.jenkins -------------------------------------------------- Join our weekly #MiddayMusic e-news at http://eepurl.com/dv0ccr #MiddayMusic is supported by generous donations from the public, along with funds from the Musicians' Company’s Prince’s Prize which received a generous endowment in 2015 from The Eranda Rothschild Foundation and Rothschilds Bank, in memory of Leopold de Rothschild, a Liveryman of the Musicians’ Company for over 50 years. Donate to support The Musicians' Company Young Artists - http://www.justgiving.com/musicianscompanyfund