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SARAH STEPHENSON

Voice

Sarah Stephenson is a skilled singer with ten years of classical training that is known for her steely and full mezzo soprano voice. She discovered her talent for singing at the young age of 9 and by ten, she was placing in local music festivals, such as the Vancouver Kiwanis Music Festival, Richmond Music Festival, and the Coquitlam District Music Festival. She received prestigious awards like the Most Promising Junior Vocalist (RMF, 2015/6) and the Edward Arnold Memorial Trophy (CDMF, 2017). She was invited to the B.C. Provincials as the National Provincial Musical Theatre representative in 2017. Sarah has a passion for musical theatre. In May of 2019, She starred in Delta Youth Theatre’s production of Mary Poppins, receiving multiple standing ovations. For the last four years, she has studied music at the University of British Columbia, specializing in voice. She took private voice lessons under the tutelage of Marisa Gaetanne. She sang in Choral Union, UBC’s largest and most powerful choir for three years and in her fourth year, she became a member of University Singers, the premier choir at UBC under the direction of Dr. Graeme Langagar. You can sometimes see her singing at churches in Metro Vancouver such as South Arm United Church and St. Anne's Anglican Church and on Carol Ship Dinner Cruises in Vancouver.

Music Education

Sarah developed a passion for teaching at a young age. She began by volunteering at Steveston Community Centre in 2016, which soon blossomed into tutoring younger students in Math and English in Hugh Boyd Secondary School as a part of a peer tutoring program. After graduating high school, she went to UBC Music. In 2021, she volunteered in the Kupaa Foundation. She was a part of a project that helped at-risk youth in the Lower Mainland with their future aspirations. In her second year, she decided to pursue a degree in General Music: Elementary Education Stream and volunteered in music classes at Nootka Elementary School for over sixty hours from September-December 2021 and April-June 2022. During the summer of 2022 and the summer of 2023, she became a summer day leader at Thompson Community Centre. For the last two years, she has taught music classes at West Richmond for 4-5 year old, 6-9 year old, and most recently 6 month-16 month old babies in a Parent and Tot class. Sarah is going into her fifth year at UBC Music and is passionate about pursuing music education in Teacher's College. 

Piano and Songwriting

Sarah has ten years of experience in piano as she began taking lessons at the young age of seven. She took Royal Conservatory Music exams. She passed her Level 7 RCM practical piano exam with First Class Honours with Distinction and her Level 8 RCM piano exam with First Class Honours. She volunteered as a piano instructor for City Centre Community Centre in the summer of 2022, teaching seniors 55+ up to RCM Level 5. 

Sarah also knows the basics of other instruments such as ukulele which has aided her in her songwriting abilities. Sarah has had a passion for songwriting since she was little. Her minor in Applied Music Technology at UBC School of Music has given her skills in music production and composition. She has extensive knowledge in DAWs (digital audio workspaces) such as DAWs (Reaper, Audacity), non-linear editing systems (Adobe Premium, Camtasia), and operation of video cameras, soundboards, and recording equipment. She also has experience in lyric writing and has taken numerous creative writing courses at UBC. Sarah is excited to start writing her first EP this summer!

Music Technology

Sarah Stephenson recently found her love for music technology while taking an introductory music technology at UBC Music (MUSC 119). She achieved the highest grade in MUSC 119 in 2021. She decided to continue learning music technology at UBC under the tutelage of Dr. Brian Garbet and Dr. Keith Hamel in Electroacoustic Music (319) and Computer Music (320), where she also received high marks in the nineties. She debuted her electroacoustic piece "Mindlessness" at the WinterBANG! Festival at UBC Music in December 2022. The piece uses audio of a guided meditation called "Leaves on the Stream" and it is in the perspective of an anxious person listening to it. She debuted her MaxMSP patch "Rainy Days" in April 2023 at the BANG! Festival. Sarah took Laptop Orchestra at UBC Music and is pursuing a minor in Applied Music Technology under the tutelage of Dr. Robert Pritchard and Dr. Keith Hamel. She has written five collaborative interactive pieces of music using KiCASS, an optical tracking system used to track data that processes and trigger sound. You can watch these pieces in "Media" or "Music Technology" tab. In February 2024, Sarah travelled to the Philippines with Laptop Orchestra to work in collaboration with the University of the Philippines Diliman to create an interactive piece of music with a group of eight students from both UP Diliman and UBC. It was an immersive educational experience and she received a certificate of appreciation from UBC and UP Diliman for her work.  

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