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42nd Season Commissioned ComposerSarah Jaysmith is an award-winning music director, composer, piano teacher and accompanist. She studied composition under Dr. Joseph Groocock as part of her Bachelor of Music Education from Trinity College, Dublin, and has been composing and arranging ever since!Sarah's two compositional loves are choral music and musical theater. She has sung in many choirs, including the Dublin College of Music Chamber Choir and the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir. She has composed and arranged many works for choir and has also composed two musicals (Waking Dreams and One Plus One) and written the music for over 60 songs. She was the resident music director and arranger for the Broadway Chorus (Vancouver, BC) for 14 years.Sarah particularly loves composing for SSAA choirs. Her arrangement of “Gartan Mother's Lullaby” was published by Pavane Publishing in 2016, after being premiered by Elektra Women's Choir (Vancouver, BC). Elektra (under the direction of Morna Edmundson) also commissioned her to arrange “Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella,” which was published by Cypress Choral Publishing in 2019. Both pieces were premiered at their Christmas concert, “Chez Nous,” in 2015. In 2018, she was commissioned by Bella Voce, a women’s choir in Reno, Nevada. Bella Voce (directed by Jennifer Tibben) asked her to compose an original piece, “Stronger Together,” which premiered in their spring concert that year.Sarah is honored and thrilled to have been chosen as this year’s commissioned composer for the Santa Fe Women’s Ensemble and to have the chance to work with Raymond Raney’s powerful text.She is originally from Ireland and has recently moved back there after living in Canada for many years. She lives with her husband, Gil; her son, Galen; and their two house rabbits, Ethan and Freda.