Sally Beamish

“Sally Beamish’s ‘A Myndin’ is a beautiful, light-textured, gentle work…"

TIM HOMFRAY, THE STRAD, 2019

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Sally Beamish was born in London. She studied viola at the RNCM with Patrick Ireland, and in Detmold with Bruno Giuranna, and was a founder member of the Raphael Ensemble. She also performed regularly with the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields and the London Sinfonietta, and was principal viola in the London Mozart Players and Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

She moved from London to Scotland in 1990 to develop her career as a composer. Her music embraces many influences: particularly jazz and Scottish traditional music. She has recently moved to Brighton, and is married to writer Peter Thomson. She still performs regularly as violist, pianist and narrator.

Since 1999 her music has been championed by the BIS label, who have recorded much of her work. In February 2012 Beamish was BBC Radio 3 Composer of the Week; and this was repeated in 2015. Her ballet The Tempest for Birmingham Royal Ballet and Houston Ballet, with choreographer David Bintley, was premiered in October 2016 at Birmingham Hippodrome and Sadler's Wells, London, with the US premiere by Houston Ballet in May 2017.

Her second ballet, The Little Mermaid, (choreographer David Nixon) was premiered in September '17 by Northern Ballet, and toured the UK with 75 performances. In 2018 she was featured composer at the Ryedale and Trondheim festivals, performing with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment as narrator, and with the Elias and Chilingirian Quartets on viola, as well as several appearances as pianist.