Sarah Hennies (b. 1979, Louisville, KY) is a percussionist and composer currently residing in Ithaca, NY. Her work is primarily concerned with an immersive, psychoacoustic presentation of sound brought about by an often grueling, endurance-based performance practice that Nathan Thomas of Fluid Radio described as "a highly sophisticated and refined performance technique...that starts and ends with listening and encourages a different way of listening from its audience." She received her M.A. in percussion from the University of California-San Diego in 2003 where she studied with renowned percussionist Steven Schick, and is currently a member of Meridian, a percussion trio with Tim Feeney and Greg Stuart. Prior to relocating to Ithaca, Hennies was based in Austin, TX, for ten years where she performed with the Austin New Music Co-op, The Weird Weeds and a variety of other projects.
In 2016 Sarah was chosen as a fellow in music/sound from the New York Foundation for the Arts.
Hennies is also an interpreter of the work of other modern composers having recorded and performed music by John Cage, Alvin Lucier, Jandek, Peter Ablinger, Kunsu Shim, Jürg Frey, Ellen Fullman, Radu Malfatti, Arnold Dreyblatt and many others. Her work as both composer and performer can be heard on a wide variety of labels including Quakebasket, Senufo Editions, Consumer Waste, Astral Spirits, Accidie, and Quiet Design.
In 2013 Hennies also founded the record label Weighter Recordings for releasing her own work and other new and unusual music by living composers.