Composer/trumpeter/singer Sarah Wilson is being hailed as “one of the most intriguing and promising composers and trumpeters on the contemporary music scene” (Derk Richardson, San Francisco Chronicle online, sfgate.com.)
Time Out New York describes her music as “evocative, elegant and comfortably familiar all at once.”

Back to the SF Bay Area after over a decade as an active fixture in the downtown New York City jazz scene, Wilson received critical acclaim for her 2006 Evander Music release, Music for an Imaginary Play, which garnered a “Best in 2006 Bay Area Jazz CDS” accolade from jazz critic Andrew Gilbert who applauds her as a “singular jazz artist with a remendously evocative book of original material.” The CD features Sarah on trumpet and vocals, co-producer Steve Cardenas (Paul Motian, Charlie Haden, Joey Baron, Slide Hampton) on electric guitar, Peck Allmond (M’Shell N’Degeocello, Don Cherry, Oliver Lake) on tenor sax, Jerome Harris (Sonny Rollins, Jack DeJohnette, Bill Frisell) on bass, and Kenny Wollesen (Norah Jones, Bill Frisell, John Zorn, Tom Waits) on drums.

Cadence Magazine highlights the theatrical impressions and permanence of her music. “Her trumpet breathes fiery emotion into each scene, as her quintet lights up each selection with the solemn majesty of a unit inspired” (Jim Santella). Grammy award nominee Dave Douglas, composer/trumpeter, commends Wilson’s development of a “new music,” which evokes the theatrical. Her techniques of “orchestrating tightly- wound counterpoint” with a “fresh, unexpected approach to rhythm” summon the imagination.

Known for her work as the musical director and composer of the Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival’s annual giant puppet theater spectacle for six years, Wilson also worked as a musical director and company member with internationally-acclaimed Bread and Puppet Theater for many years touring in South and Central America, Korea, Canada and the U.S. Additionally, she composed music for the American Museum of Natural History’s “Body Art” exhibit.

Sarah works intensively as a composer and trumpeter with numerous bands led by NYC drummer Kenny Wollesen. Sarah’s compositions have been performed at European and NYC festivals including the Willisau Jazz Festival in Switzerland, Central Park’s Summerstage, River to River Festival and Celebrate Brooklyn in NY. Her quintet has performed at the renowned Festival of New Trumpet Music, Lincoln Center for the Arts, Cornelia St. Café, Makor, The Stone, Intersection for the Arts and other numerous venues around the New York and CA areas.

Wilson has studied with John McNeil and Laurie Frink; received “Meet the Composer” grants annually from 1995-2002; was awarded funding from the McCord Foundation and the Irene Diamond Scholarship from 2003-2005; and has toured extensively in the Americas and abroad. As a trumpeter, she has performed with Butch Morris, Myra Melford, Kenny Wollesen, and the Brazilian Girls and recorded with Wollesen, Atlantic Records artists Dusty Trails and other NYC & CA bands.

Born in San Francisco, Wilson grew up in Healdsburg, CA. She received a BA in Anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley. Through a private mentorship with Schoenberg scholar Paul Caputo, she obtained a BA in music from Empire State College, NY. After living for 12 years in NYC, she returned to the SF Bay Area where she currently resides.