BIO

“… Jerrom sounds best when she is free of traditional confines.”  – Robert Rusch, Cadence Magazine 

 

Sarah Jerrom is a JUNO-nominated Canadian vocalist, pianist, composer and arranger specializing in jazz and creative music, taking her inspiration from lyric-driven melodies, genre-defying instrumentation and experimental soundscapes. As a bandleader, Sarah has released four critically-acclaimed albums to date: Magpie, a double album featuring her original eighty-six-minute suite for extended jazz orchestra (2024, TPR Records),  Dream Logic (2021, TPR Records), which showcases a collection of original songs recorded by her contemporary jazz quartet of the same name, The Yeats Project (2017), featuring W.B. Yeats’s poetry set to original music and orchestrated for a nine-piece chamber jazz ensemble, and Illuminations (2007), which encompasses original compositions, jazz-inspired arrangements of contemporary songs and traditional jazz standards.

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“… a dazzlingly talented Canadian composer, songwriter and singer.” ★★★★ – Ivan Rod, Danish music critic

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Recent performance highlights include “Magpie” showcases at the 2024 Toronto and Markham Jazz Festivals. Previous headliner performances include Canadian concert venues 918 Bathurst, The Music Gallery, Brock University’s Centre for the Arts, The Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, and many of Toronto’s top jazz clubs. Sarah has performed with renowned jazz artists such as Reg Schwager, Ingrid Jensen, Carnatic-fusion guitarist Prasanna as well as many other notable musicians; she has sung with Alex Samaras’ vocal group, GREX.

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“On the strengths of  this (Magpie) album — be it in her skillful compositional work or excellent delivery by the orchestra—Sarah Jerrom has surely taken an important step in her career, serving notice as a talent to watch for on the Canadian jazz scene, and hopefully for many years to come.” - Marc Chénard - La Scena Musicale Magazine, Montreal 

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As a composer and arranger, Sarah has received awards such as the Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival’s 2013 Special Project Initiative for “The Yeats Project,” and many federal and provincial grants to compose and present new works. Most recently, her large ensemble composition, “Part VIII: Crystallization (For R.)” from the “Magpie” Suite, was selected to be presented at the 2024 International Symposium for Jazz Composers and Arrangers at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

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“With the release of her latest recording (DREAM LOGIC), Sarah Jerrom has reminded us that she is one of the most  interesting, talented and creative vocalist/composers on the scene today.” – Lesley Mitchell-Clarke, The Whole Note Magazine

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Sarah is a passionate music educator and private instructor, maintaining a private studio of voice, piano, and writing students. She applies the principles of Somatic Voicework™ in her studio and has completed extensive training in teaching all contemporary commercial music styles. Sarah completed review courses at The 2017 LoVetri Institute at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory in Berea, Ohio, USA after completing Jeanie LoVetri’s Somatic Voicework™ certification courses at the 2013 Contemporary Commercial Music (CCM) Vocal Pedagogy Institute at Shenandoah University in Virginia, USA. She has taught at Humber College’s jazz program and was on the 2010 vocal faculty at the Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music in Chennai, India.

 

Sarah has studied composition with renowned Canadian composers Christine Jensen, Christopher Smith, Rick Wilkins (O.C.) and Andrew Downing. She earned her Bachelor of Music in jazz voice at the University of Toronto (2005), where she studied with some of Canada’s most esteemed jazz musicians including Heather Bambrick, Christine Duncan, Terry Promane, and Phil Nimmons. Sarah is currently completing her masters degree in jazz writing at the Eastman School of Music (2026).