Vocalist, violinist, composer, copywriter, radio and TV host.
Sarah Àlainn, originally from Sydney, began studying the violin from the age of 5. She studied under Perry Hart, the star pupil of Szymon Goldberg who at the age of 20 became the concertmaster for the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
Winning domestic competitions she soon gained recognition for her talents and enrolled at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and graduated with a High Distinction from the University of Sydney, whilst studying abroad at the University of Tokyo.
Sarah’s debut as a singer began with ‘Beyond the Sky’, the ending theme to the game Xenoblade, composed by Yasunori Mitsuda. She has since been actively involved in singing and writing lyrics for games. Sarah collaborated with Olympic gold medallist, figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu with ‘The Final Time Traveller’, the ending theme to Time Travelers by Hideki Sakamoto with English lyrics by Sarah. Yuruzu Hanyu also used the song during his exhibition program. Sarah and Yasunori Mitsuda collaborated on the music for the SEGA game Valkyria: Azure Revolution.
In 2012 Sarah signed a record deal with Universal Music Japan releasing her debut album ‘Celeste’ which reached #1 on the iTunes Japan Vocal Charts. Her second album, SARAH produced by Yasunori Mitsuda, was released in 2014 reaching #1 in the Billboard Japan Classical charts, her 13th entry into the Japanese music charts. She released her self-produced albums ‘f’ and ‘ANIMA’, her single ‘Little Doll’ reaching #1 on the iTunes Classical charts upon the day of its release. Sarah writes lyrics in English, Japanese, Italian and Latin.
With a vocal range spanning over 3 octaves, Sarah’s voice was the subject of an analytical study by Japanese Acoustic Labs where the results ascertained that the effects of listening to Sarah’s singing is therapeutically beneficial, by way of her voice containing 1/f fluctuations (similar to the audio waves found in church bells). Sarah has both perfect pitch and synaesthesia (she sees sound as colours).
Sarah is actively involved in supporting parasport initiatives. Her song ‘Dream As One’ is a parasports theme song in Japan. Sky’s Calling with music, lyrics and vocals by Sarah, is the theme song to Japan Airlines’s weekly TV program ‘PREMIUM SKY’. Sarah’s composition for string orchestra ‘Shadows of Time’ was used in the short film promoting the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Gunkanjima (Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining). As part of Mitsubishi Corporation’s socio-cultural initiatives, Sarah’s English translation of the picture book Who? Me! is being delivered to children around the world.
Sarah worked together with 16 time Grammy Award winning record producer David Foster on the Disney special anniversary album We Love Disney, singing ‘Colors of the Wind’ from Pocahontas. Sarah has also recorded on tracks with the Vienna Boys’ Choir, and a duet with Andrea Bocelli and Peabo Bryson. In 2016 Sarah performed with Andrea Bocelli on his ‘CINEMA World Tour’ in Japan. She was invited as a violinist on Ludovico Einaudi’s Japan Tour. Sarah has also performed the Japanese National Anthem in front of the Emperor and Empress of Japan, and the Royal Family, Prince and Princess Akishino. She was invited to perform at the World Heritage Site, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion in 2017, an exclusive concert which occurs only once in a decade.
Sarah currently hosts an English-language teaching show ‘Kiso Eigo for Adult Learners’ on NHK TV. She also hosts her weekly radio program Peace of Mind〜Saturday mornings with Sarah Àlainn on Tokyo FM/FM Osaka. She has been invited to speak at TEDxUTokyo (TEDx event hosted by The University of Tokyo), where she spoke about ‘Meaningful Silences’, and she has also appeared as a guest lecturer at the Tokyo University of the Arts. She is also a copywriter at M&CSAATCHI (Japan branch) and has written slogans for companies including Mitsubishi Corporation and Japan Airlines.
Sarah was chosen to sing the theme song ‘Bring The Snow’ in both English and Japanese to the feature film ‘Moomins and The Winter Wonderland’ released worldwide in December 2017.
At the start of 2018 Sarah was chosen to sing the theme tune on the national broadcaster NHK’s prestigious drama ‘Segodon’.
In January, Sarah was invited to the official dinner between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during his visit as the sole Japanese/Australian representative of the arts. In March, Sarah was inaugurated as a Good Will Ambassador for the Australian Government presented ‘Australia now’ program that showcases contemporary Australia on the themes of Innovation, lifestyle and creativity.
Sarah became the presenter on NHK World’s program ‘Kabuki Kool’ which introduced the art of Kabuki to a global audience. She presents the program together with renowned Kabuki actor Ainosuke Kataoka.