UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 01 JULY 2022
International Chair of Brass Sarah Willis recently received an MBE at Windsor Castle from the Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, for services to charity and the promotion of classical music.
Sarah’s services to charity include her online series ‘Horn Hangouts’ and her ‘Mozart y Mambo’ project for young Cuban musicians in Cuba.
She said: “I am honoured, grateful and proud in equal measures to have received this tremendous award, and thrilled that our beloved classical music world has been recognised in this way.”
Sarah's live-streamed ‘Horn Hangouts’ have been viewed by countless people across the world, reaching people who may not have easy access to live concerts or teachers.
Sarah Willis was born in Maryland, United States and grew up in Tokyo, Boston and Moscow, before settling in London. She started playing the French horn at age 14 and later joined the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she studied with Anthony Halstead and Jeff Bryant. Later moving to Berlin, she studied with Fergus McWilliam.