Sound and Music’s In Motion programme brings together a diverse group of composers, each with a unique voice and vision. This Q&A series offers a glimpse into their creative worlds.

Here, we speak to In Motion 2025 composer Sarahsson.

How would you describe your creative process?

It’s often a question of meeting a piece where it wants to be, adapting all your experience to follow the thread of an idea somewhere new. Maybe it starts with a lyric or a melodic motif that has appeared, and you have to balance focus with dreaming and surrender to those instincts that carve out the rest of the piece – often there are several right answers.

What’s a sound you’ve heard recently that fascinated you?

A vibrating wire attached to a large plastic water container, I sat by it for 15 minutes.

What do you hope audiences take away from your work?

I’m very happy when I hear about any personal reaction to my work, whether they are briefly soothed or terrified, or if they see something in themselves which was unclear before. The purpose of the making is expression, exploration, understanding, not necessarily to be reacted to or understood. But the releasing is absolutely about connection and communication, contributing to the universe.

What directions or experiments are you excited to explore next?

I’m incredibly excited to embark on this research into metal and granite, which are new materials for me to work with. I’m really going to savour my time spent hanging things and singing into them and bending and striking and cutting and bowing until we have our final designs.

What are you looking forward to most about In Motion?

Being able to work as part of a team to bring the project to fruition, it’s difficult to let yourself get lost in research and experimentation when you’re also your own project manager as well as everything else, and having other people closely involved extends the network of ideas and contacts and possibilities.