Biography
Sarah Jeffery is one of the world’s foremost promoters of the recorder, and a passionate champion of both early and contemporary music. She performs worldwide as a soloist, chamber musician, and as part of music-theatre productions. Sarah was appointed Professor of Recorder at the Royal College of Music in 2022. She is an award winning author, publishing sheet music and method books with Hal Leonard and Schott. Sarah is widely known for her YouTube channel Team Recorder, which aims to bring accessible music educaton to its 220,000 strong audience.
Performance
Sarah has commisioned dozens of contemporary works, and has performed worldwide, from Australia to Brazil, Singapore to the US, and all over Europe. As a soloist she is a regular guest at the London International Festival of Early Music, and has appeared on renowned stages including the Berlin Festspiele, the Next Wave Festival at BAM Brooklyn, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Gaudeamus Muziekweek, and the Blockfloetenfesttage. Sarah is currently performing with chamber ensembles including Het Muziek (previously known as Asko|Schönberg), the Royal Wind Music, Resonate Productions, Block4 Quartet. Sarah is recognised as the only recorder player to join Splendor, a collective of musicians running the independent music space of Amsterdam.
Her debut album Constellations was released in 2018, for which she gained rare permission to arrange Steve Reich’s Vermont Counterpoint for recorders. Her next album is currently in the works.
Teaching
Sarah was appointed Professor of Recorder at the Royal College of Music in London in 2022, where she teaches recorder and composition students. A passionate pedagogue, Sarah has built up a wealth of teaching experience at every level and age group. She regularly gives masterclasses and workshops all over the the world, at institutions including the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Centro Suzuki São Paulo, Columbia Gorge Early Music Retreat, Dartington Summer School, Wells Cathedral School, Leuven Conservatoire, and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. She conducted improvisation and composition workshops in the SoundLAB of the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ for eleven years.
Outside active pedagogy, Ms. Jeffery co-ordinates the biannual ORDA Teachers Conference in Amsterdam, and can be found giving lectures at a range of education conferences, including MERYC and the Utrecht Early Music Festival.
Publishing
Sarah published with renowned music houses Hal Leonard and Schott, with her sixth publication currently in the works. Her series ‘My Favourite Melodies’ has been a Schott bestseller, providing a repertoire of challenging yet fun concert pieces for the aspiring player. Sarah released ‘The Hal Leonard Recorder Method’ - the first official recorder tutor book from the largest music publisher in the world - in 2025. This has gone on to win a High Commendation at the UK Music & Drama Education Awards in 2026.
Sarah was also a member of the editorial team for Blokfluitist, the Dutch recorder magazine, for ten years. She also has written for music publications such as Tempo, Primephonic, and the Recorder Magazine.
Team Recorder
In an effort to make music education accessible for all and share her love of the recorder, Sarah has cultivated an educational presence both on and offline. Online, she posts weekly instructional tutorials on technique, improvisation, repertoire, and much more on her YouTube channel, Team Recorder. One of the most recognizable resources for recorder, the channel has amassed over 220,000 loyal subscribers. Her channel has worked in partnership with global brands such as Netflix, Yamaha, and ABRSM.
Accolades and prizes
Sarah is currently the European Ambassador for Early Music 2026, alongside Lucie Horsch, in partnership with the REMA European Early Music Network.
Recent accolades include: Sarah won a High Commendation for her book ‘The Hal Leonard Recorder Method’ in the category ‘Outstanding Print Media’ at the UK Music & Drama Education Awards 2026; a nomination for Best Media at the prestigious REMA European Early Music awards for her Youtube channel Team Recorder; and being awarded Best of Classical Music 2020 in the NRC for the production While We Live, which also gathered 25 awards and nominations at international film festivals worldwide. She was appointed Honorary Vice President of the Society of Recorder Players in the UK in 2022, for her services to the music community. She is honorary President of the National Youth Recorder Orchestra in the UK.
Competition successes include the 1st prize and the contemporary music prize at the Nordhorn International Recorder Competition, contemporary music prize at the ORDA recorder competition, and the Talent Boven Water prize at the Grachtenfestival.
For her efforts, she has received praise for “standing out from the established repertoire” and “fresh, surprising, and explosive” performances from Dutch NRC newspaper, and “the height of sonic and soundtrack cool, out there at the edges of compositional innovation and performative possiblity” from BBC Radio 3. Gramophone Magazine describe her as “an internationally recognised virtuoso”.
Recording
Sarah has appeared on many soundtracks and film scores, including Bob’s Burgers, Bad Apples starring Saoirse Ronan and composed by Chris Roe, a series of films by artist Rory Pilgrim, and a range of content for the movie Vivo, produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Netflix. Sarah collaborated as musical director with artist Song-Ming Ang to produce the short film Recorder Rewrite, for the Singapore Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
Off-stage, she is recognized as an expert on the instrument, appearing on the BBC, as well as being a regular feature on radio and television. Recent productions include the BBC Radio 4 programme ArtWorks: Rocking the Recorder, and a guest star episode on CBBC’s ‘YoLanda’s Band Jam!’.
Education
Sarah graduated cum laude from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in 2013, where she completed a Bachelors and Masters degree under the tutelage of Jorge Isaac and Walter van Hauwe. Previously, she graduated from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire with first class Honours in 2007, taught by Ross Winters and Annabel Knight.
Sarah’s pathway into classical music was unconventional: she fell in love with the recorder age 6, and was largely self taught until she began her conservatoire studies. Sarah counts the enthusiasm of her state school music teachers and access to a weekly recorder club at a local music centre for igniting her drive for the recorder. It is for this reason that she is especially passionate about providing access to music education, for those who would not normally have the chance to come into contact with classical music.
Finally, Jeffery is spelled E-R-Y.