Sarah Àlainn

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Sarah Àlainn is an Australian singer and songwriter who mainly works in Japan. Her big break came in 2010 when her English vocals were used for the closing theme “Beyond the Sky” in the Wii game Xenoblade, written by Yasunori Mitsuda.

While studying at the University of Tokyo, she learned Mitsuda needed an English‑speaking singer for a video game song and was hired. After returning to Australia, she found the song was well received and decided to pursue singing. She returned to Japan for a year to start her music career, and her demo CD reached Universal Music, leading to a recording contract. Her father had recently died, and she considers the contract a gift from him from beyond the grave.

Her second classical album, Sarah, originally charted at No. 13 on the Billboard Japan Top Classical Albums, and rose to No. 1 in December 2014 after Yuzuru Hanyu performed to the track “The Final Time Traveler” at the Grand Prix Final gala. She also performed with Hanyu in the Fantasy on Ice show in 2014.

In 2015, David Foster invited her to sing “Colors of the Wind” for the Japanese version of the Disney album We Love Disney. In 2017 she played violin for Ludovico Einaudi’s concert in Tokyo. Since 2018, she has co‑hosted NHK’s Kabuki Kool with Kataoka Ainosuke VI, a program that introduces kabuki to foreign audiences.

Àlainn is known for playing many instruments in concerts. Her main focus is voice and violin, but she also plays piano, keyboards, kalimba (made from Japanese larch), and occasionally guitar, harpsichord, or pipe organ. She often performs with loopers and synthesizers and uses various effects in live shows.