With the end of the year upon us, we are also marking the end of our dedicated Chairman, Sarah Rodgers’ term on the board.

Since 2000 Sarah has provided invaluable guidance and a steady hand in steering our organisation. We want to recognise her years of service and dedication, particularly her efforts in supporting fellow composers and songwriters, as well as our team.

We are incredibly grateful for her hard work and commitment, and while her absence will surely be felt, her legacy will continue to inspire us moving forward.

Please join us in wishing Sarah a warm farewell and the very best of luck in her next chapter. We hope she will continue to stay connected with us in a different capacity!

We are honouring Sarah’s career and accomplishments in an in-depth feature, which you can read below.

A Career of “Firsts” and Leadership

Sarah Rodgers is an esteemed composer and conductor. Her career is distinguished by numerous achievements and significant contributions to the music industry.

Sarah began her musical journey at Nottingham University, where she read Music and made history as the first woman conductor of the University Opera group. During this time, she conducted the first fully staged UK production of Halévy’s La Juive since its Covent Garden debut in 1893.

Throughout her career, Sarah has gone on to achieve several other pioneering roles:

• First Woman Director of the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS): A post she held for seventeen years.
• First Woman to be Elected Chairman of BASCA: She led the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and was later elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

In 2003, she founded the annual British Composer Awards (now The Ivors Composer Awards), leading their development for the first 11 years and curating their tenth-anniversary concert in the Purcell Room. She has also served as Chairman of the Composers’ Guild of Great Britain, following in the footsteps of founding Chair, Ralph Vaughan Williams and women composers Elizabeth Maconchy and Ruth Gipps.

Musical Works and Global Influences

Sarah began composing professionally in 1982 after two years of working with Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) in Sierra Leone. Her experiences there fostered an enduring interest in world music and its relation to western art music, a theme that has informed many of her compositions.

Notable works influenced by this interest include The Roaring Whirl, which featured an array of non-Western instruments and was broadcast on Classic FM. Her composition Saigyō for the City of London Sinfonia featured two Japanese shakuhachi and two Indian bansuri with a chamber orchestra, which she also conducted.

Sarah’s work has been commissioned by various organisations, including Arts Council England and the BBC Proms. Her music has been performed globally in locations such as the USA, China, Australia, and Russia.

Her work The King of the Golden River, recorded on the SOMM label and available on streaming services such as Spotify, received its US premiere in 2016 and was performed at the Royal Academy in London for the bicentenary celebrations of John Ruskin’s birth in 2019.

Recent Highlights and Personal Life

In 2023, Sarah received a BBC Proms commission for a work for the BBC Concert Orchestra. Seascapes was performed and broadcast live on 8 September.

Sarah, a direct descendant of the family of Henry Purcell, lives in Norfolk with her wife, the clarinettist Geraldine Allen. Her Spanish Sonata, written for Geraldine, is featured on several music examination syllabuses. Her music is published by OUP, Stainer & Bell, Recital Music, and Impulse Edition.

Her work with the Fund

Sarah has been an integral part of our organisation since 2000 and has served as our Board Chair since January 2024. During her tenure, her unwavering commitment and exceptional leadership have been instrumental in guiding us through strategic planning, expanding our service and membership base.

Her dedication has left an indelible mark on the PRS Members’ Fund, and we are a stronger and more vibrant community because of her contributions. We are immensely grateful for her insights, dedication, and the positive influence she has had on our mission.

Sarah’s successor is Fund trustee Philip Pope, who starts his new role on 1st January. We are confident Philip will continue the charity’s development and success.

John Logan, General Secretary of the PRS Members’ Fund, said: “I want to acknowledge Sarah’s dedicated support for the charity over many years. It has been an honour and a privilege to work with her.”

A farewell message from Sarah: “My journey with The Fund over two and a half decades has been a rich episode in my life.  The Fund takes a unique place in the lives of composers and songwriters, and it has been a joy to be part of its invaluable contribution to PRS Members and their families. Of course, I shall miss it and all the people who make it the vibrant organisation that it is, but I’ll be keeping a close watch from the side-lines and continuing to give my support in whatever way I can.”

Please join us in expressing our deepest gratitude to Sarah for her service and dedication. We wish her all the best in her future endeavours.