Biography of Sarah Ellen Hughes

Award-winning vocalist Sarah Ellen Hughes has established herself as a notable presence on the London jazz scene and beyond.

Sarah began her career with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO), with whom she was lead vocalist from 2005-2008. Since then she has earned many accolades including winning the 2010 International Jazz Singing Competition, “Jazz Voices,” held in Lithuania. In 2011, she was selected as a semi-finalist for the Montreux Jazz Festival voice competition where she was lucky enough to perform in front of Quincy Jones. Quincy himself said “Great singing girl, keep doing what you’re doing.”

Sarah has appeared at many of the UK’s top jazz venues including Ronnie Scott’s, Pizza on the Park (where she held a residency for 8 months), 606 Club, Wakefield Jazz Club, and Marlborough Jazz Festival. In 2010, she was invited to participate in the London Jazz Festival “Vocal Summit,” where she was selected by Paul Pace -jazz programmer at Ronnie Scott’s - as one of three singers “whom I consider to be the best on the scene in terms of the vocal art, individuality, and the ability to move and entertain the audience.”

As well as singing, Sarah enjoys writing for one of Britain’s best jazz blogs, LondonJazz. Additionally, her years with NYJO prepared her to set up her own big band: The Sarah Ellen Hughes Big Band, featuring an all-star line-up.

Sarah is the founder member of Sector7, a sensational septet featuring jazz trio and four singers, which has been described by Ian Shaw as “Possibly the most exciting thing to happen to the London Jazz scene.”