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Sarah Quartel is a Canadian composer and educator known for her fresh and exciting approach to choral music. She celebrates the musical potential of all learners by providing singers access to high quality repertoire and engaging music education. Sarah's choral works are performed by children, youth, and adults throughout the world and her work as an educator connects exciting musical experiences with meaningful classroom learning. Sarah is signed to Oxford University Press. She is an educator in Ontario, Canada and continues to work as a guest clinician at various music education and choral events internationally. She currently lives and writes in both Ontario and Hawaii.


Sarah's compositional style is one that is focused highly on melody and rhythm, and the interplay between them. She is masterful at writing pieces that bring the listeners into the spaces she's describing, like a cold Canadian winter in her cycle "A Winter's Day" or the quiet reminiscence of "I remember".

Selected Works
  • Snow Angel - SATB** or SSAA, with piano, cello, and djembe. This song cycle in 5 movements speaks about love, beauty, and rebirth through the eyes of angels, told through optional narration with the choir in only 4 parts, and piano and cello accompaniment throughout.

  • Sing My Child - SATB a capella, with hand drum. An infectious and boisterous melody written in complex time signatures, along with a chorale section that would be a great fit for high school and non-auditioned mixed choirs of all ages and skills.
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  • I remember* - SA with piano. A simple yet elegant piece with a reflective text that is written and perfectly suited for younger children's choirs or amateur treble choirs. It features a contrasting tonality in it's middle section and some simple but effective two part harmonies throughout. 

* = in the Choir Alberta library
** = Movements 3 + 4 (God Will Give Orders/Sweet Child) available in the Choir Alberta library
Working full time as a composer and educator, Quartel has recently been signed to Oxford University Press.