Tonal
The Tonal Ensemble
Sarah set up Tonal in 2004 as a creative music ensemble with co-founders Karen Hutt and Leah Llewellyn. Over the years Tonal has performed live concerts, produced music for charity films, run music and song development residencies, set up a small independent music label and has created, recorded and produced music for various productions, films, and album projects.
Tonal Ensemble Highlights
Hold Fast
Tonal's latest single release 'Hold Fast' is a hopeful song inspired by interviews with NHS workers taken over the Pandemic. Music: Sarah and James Fox, lyrics: Gaynor Winstanley.
The Last Cuckoo: Dennis Gould
2021 film by Mark Chaudoir featuring music composed and performed by Sarah and the Tonal Ensemble. Various screenings at cinemas and film festivals are planned for 2022
Tonal Ensemble: 10
In 2015 Tonal released the album ‘10’ with the Tonal Ensemble and long-term collaborators Claire-Rose Barbier and Gaynor Winstanley
The Scarlet Pimpernel
BBC radio 4 drama, music by Sarah, recorded and produced by Tonal featuring Francesca Simmons on violin
The Saturday Book
Album The Saturday Book, 2012, circus music by Sarah and Karen Hutt, produced by Tonal, recorded at Wincraft Studios.
Tonal – Live Launch Show
TONAL was launched in 2004 with a series of concerts & performances all around London.
Tonal performance in Utrecht, Holland
Album Teaser
Listen to a few of Tonal Ensemble recordings
Scarlet Pimpernel BBC Radio 4 Extracts
Bicycle Homage - Dennis Gould
Harmonies - extracts from Tonal Ensemble 10 album
Oscar and Jim Suite
Short Epic suite extracts from Tonal Ensemble 10 album
The Saturday Book Rag Extracts
Featured Artists: The Tonal Ensemble
Sarah Llewellyn, photo by Leah Llewellyn
Sarah Llewellyn, composer, musical director, performer and founder. More about Sarah
Leah Llewellyn in Ethiopia
Leah is an anthropologist, film maker, photographer and researcher. She is inspired by the relationship between performance and society and cultural influences in the arts. Leah is production manager and videographer for ReachAnother Foundation Charity.
Leah is co-founder of Tonal, many of the photographs and short films on this site are created by her. She production managed the original launch of the company and the 10 years of Tonal album ’10’ launch. She also recorded the music for Oscar and Jim and Caravan. Leah also uses original Tonal recordings in her films for The Reach Another Foundation and for Manchester City Council.
Claire-Rose Barbier, photo by Leah Llewellyn
Claire and Sarah met at the circus in 2008 and have been collaborating ever since. Together they ran a successful crowd funding campaign to record the album ’10’.
Claire is a singer-songwriter and plays trumpet, guitar and piano. She is also an artist specialising in sculpture, design and installation. Claire’s website
Karen Hutt
Karen is a percussionist and co founder of Tonal, she has collaborated with Sarah on numerous projects as composer assistant and as performer. She is skilled in arrangement, orchestration and plays percussion for many orchestras and ensembles in London, across the UK and abroad. Contact Karen
Gaynor Winstanley, Photo by Leah Llewellyn
Gaynor is a lyricist and Sarah’s long term collaborator. Highlights include Hold Fast – Tonal’s latest release, Yasmine a Musical for Giffords Circus, Kakenya’s Dream, the lullaby in the epic outdoor spectacle Zara and numerous musical theatre productions with JMU drama.
Francesca Simmons, photo by Leah Llewellyn
Francesca is a dynamic, versatile and exciting musician. She plays violin, musical saw, viola, double bass and ukulele, voice, recorder, soprano sax and keys.
Francesca is a regular performer with TONAL and is featured on many recordings and live performances. Francesca’s website