Sarah Oates enjoys a varied career combining chamber music, orchestral leading and teaching. As the associate concertmaster of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London she has performed regularly in the great concert halls and around the world. She is a sought-after guest concertmaster with other world class orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, the Royal Opera House of Brussels, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

Sarah's education began in her country of birth, South Africa, with Louis van der Watt. She went on to study with Yossi Zivoni in at the Purcell School in London, then at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and with Pinchas Zukerman at the Manhattan School of Music in New York.

Sarah maintains a busy chamber music schedule. As a member of the Devich Piano Trio she recorded four CD's with Challenge Records to international critical acclaim. Recent recordings include a CD with Warner Classics, with works by Chausson, with her string quartet, the Philharmonia Chamber Players. She is a founding member of the Phoenix Festival, an annual chamber music festival in Brussels, with an ensemble of international musicians based in Belgium, Brussels Muzique. She is a member of the Ubuntu Ensemble, a group of South African musicians currently based in the UK and Europe, who come together to perform classical repertoire as well as showcasing contemporary South African composers.

Sarah is a violin professor at the London Performing Academy of Music.