UYMP University of York Music Press

Sadie Harrison awarded Finzi Trust Scholarship

28 January 2016

Sadie Harrison has been awarded a 2016 Finzi Trust Scholarship for the composition of a new orchestral work for the Afghanistan National Youth Orchestra. 

She will be the first woman to write for the orchestra and one of only a very few non-Afghan composers to have written works for the ensemble.

In line with ANIM’s pioneering approach to music-making, the orchestra combines traditional Afghan instruments, such as the rubab, tanbur, ghichak, dilruba, sitar, sarod and dhol, with a full compliment of western orchestral forces.

The orchestra has played in several prestigious venues, including the Kennedy Centre and Carnegie Hall to great acclaim.

"Although a fledgling ensemble, the best hopes of the country are embodied in its young performers, who will become not just tomorrow’s musicians but also the country’s leaders and educators."

In November 2015, Harrison was appointed as a Visiting Fellow to Goldsmith's College's Afghan Music Unit in recognition of her work as a scholar of Afghan music. 

Read the full story here. 

Harrison was born in Adelaide, Australia and moved to England in 1970. She gained her Masters and Doctorate in Composition at Kings College, London studying under Nicola Lefanu and David Lumsdaine.

Read her full biography here. 

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