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Violinist Jaya Hanley and Cellist Sarah James of the Chapel Hill Duo playing their instruments in a bluebell forest.

The Chapel Hill Duo’s music goes beyond the boundaries of genre and challenges the ‘classical’ Violin and Cello stereotypes. With years of experience performing Pop, Jazz, Classical, Film and Folk music, and a firm grounding in the perfection of Classical virtuosity, they explore the limits of what is possible with just two musicians, a Violin and a Cello.

The Duo’s own intricately detailed covers and arrangements are internationally renowned, selling thousands of copies of sheet music a year. Whether they are tackling the latest top 40 chart hits, epic film-scores or old classics, Sarah and Jaya undertake each new challenge with the same energy and commitment. Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide enjoy watching and listening to the Duo perform live and online every year.

Sarah James, Cello, and Jaya Hanley, Violin talking with graffiti in the background.

The Chapel Hill Duo, Jaya Hanley Violinist and Sarah James Cellist share a romantic moment sitting on a bench in front of a drystone wall covered in moss.

In 2011 Violinist Jaya Hanley and Cellist Sarah James met at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London. In 2015 the Duo graduated with 1st Class Honours Performance Degrees in their respective instruments, but they came away with so much more than just a qualification. In November of the following year Jaya and Sarah got engaged on top of Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh and in March 2022, after many delays, they finally tied the knot!

Although the Duo are loosely based in the East Midlands, U.K., they spend much of their time touring and playing for hundreds of events across the country. Be it a Concert, Wedding, Corporate event, Party or Primary School assembly, Sarah and Jaya love performing and approach all of their engagements with equal enthusiasm.

Jaya Hanley Violinist and Sarah James Cellist of the Chapel Hill Duo enjoy the sun in a field of yellow rapeseed flowers silhouette framed with cloudy background.

‘Stunning’ music for any occasion. Available for Weddings, corporate events, Concerts & other projects.

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You were absolutely amazing and I know people loved it – eagerly awaiting the video footage now so we can watch bits back! My Dad was so overwhelmed hearing your rendition of Calon Lan – definitely a moment we will never forget and it was just so beautiful. Thank you ❤️ – Katy & Jamie

We just wanted to say thank you so much for playing at our wedding. The atmosphere was just amazing and we loved all the songs you played. We have had many compliments from the guests about you 😊 and Skyfall sounded absolutely fantastic – thanks so much for learning it for us. – Jade & James

Honestly you guys are so amazing. As soon as we heard you performing at a wedding fair and you brought tears to our eyes we knew we wanted you to be at our wedding and what an amazing job you did. So many guests commented on how beautiful your music was and how it just made the day more perfect. Right from the start the communication was brilliant and nothing was ever too much trouble. It made us so much more at ease having a night where we met to listen to snippets of the songs we have chosen. We will 100% be recommending you to friends and family and hope to have the pleasure of meeting you again soon. Thanks again for all your help. – Mr & Mrs Hade

I just wanted to take the time to say a big thank you for making our wedding day so special on Friday!
I am so glad we booked you! Your beautiful music created a lovely atmosphere at our ceremony and reception drinks. We received so many compliments on your performance and you really added to our day! You had the perfect combination of songs for us to choose from and I enjoyed every single one. You are also such a lovely friendly couple who really do make everyone smile.
Thank you so much we will be recommending you to everyone! – Mr & Mrs Baker

Thank you so much for yesterday you were outstanding. Your music added even more happiness and love to our special day. So many of our guests told us that your playing in the ceremony was beautiful and a highlight for them. We feel fortunate to have found you and will most definitely be recommending you to our friends. We hope our paths will cross again in the future. – Frank & Frankie

Thank you so much for yesterday you were outstanding and our guests commented on how excellent you were. We honestly can’t thank you enough 😊 -Erin & Chris

Thank you, so so so much for being such a big part of our wedding day, I’ll never forget the sound of your music playing as I walked down the aisle or the memories of sitting up in the bridal suite feeding our youngest listening to your playing softly making its way up stairs. Such beautiful memories 🤍 I just want to take the time to say you are both are such talented musicians, and all round lovely people, was really nice to be able to have a quick chat with you before we went in for our wedding breakfast! Dan & I genuinely had goosebumps when we first heard you play at the Lanwades open day and we knew you had to be a part of our special day, then on our zoom meeting – well that’s something we will never forget! If we could just listen to you play for hours we would!! Thank you again for everything! -Katie & Dan

We can’t thank you enough for your beautiful music. It added such a classy, elegant vibe to an already beautiful event. Every single guest was blown away so imagine how we felt!!! I can’t imagine anyone thinking you guys are anything except perfect. We’re beyond glad we booked you for our wedding, we’ll never forget it. – Charlie-Dawn & Ricky

Excellent, friendly and personal service!! The music they played was so beautiful and we are so pleased we chose them to play at our wedding!! – Kerry

Wow wow wow I cannot thank you enough for making our wedding absolutely perfect. You blew us away, I loved every minute of it xx – Claire

You guys were a lovely surprise from my wife, beautifully played and faultless, it felt unique and personal, thank you very very much, and the Star Wars theme tune played how it should be! – Matthew

Ever since we first heard your music floating in the air as we walked into Bassmead for the first time (we think it was the theme from Harry Potter being played) we were enamoured with your skill and knew that having you as part of our special day would be something that we really wanted.
Becca was thrilled and really moved by your beautiful performance of ‘I Giorni’, which was the perfect song for her to walk down the aisle to.
So many of our guests told us how much they enjoyed your music, and that having you play made the day all the more unique. You helped to add the extra special something to our day that we will remember for the rest of our lives and we are so grateful for that. – Craig & Becca

You were fabulous from meeting you to playing for our special day. Thank you so much for playing so beautifully. Not a dry eye in there, our guests thought you were fabulous. You made our day so special thank you. – Sophia and Alex

I like everything!! You dealt with our arrangements professionally and promptly, you did a fab job of the song composed of our choice and the music throughout the day was wonderful. – Zoe and Vimel

Thank you so much for your hard work on Saturday everyone was complimenting on how lovely it made the service we will for sure be highly recommending you. – Natasha

From day one you both have been a dream to work with. Very professional, prompt with email replies, polite, flexible and then there is your music! Wow! What can we say…you guys were amazing. It was truly so moving and there was not a dry eye in the house. – Christina and Ben

Wow wow wow – what a talented pair of musicians. Both my wife & I are so glad we chose you to play at both the church and the reception for our wedding. I really can’t praise you both enough. You really did make our day that extra special, and so many of our friends and family agreed. Thank you so much guys x – Chris and Nicky

I just wanted to say how wonderful it was to have you both play at our wedding! You really did make our day that extra bit special and the guests really enjoyed your music! The ceremony was just perfect, how I had always imagined it. So thank you so much from us both, you were amazing. – Kady and Mike

The Chapel Hill Duo is a pairing of two inspirational musicians, who will always give an outstanding performance. We are always delighted to host Sarah and Jaya at St Wulfram’s, Grantham, and every time they have played at our events the standard has been impeccably high. They come very highly recommended! – Dr Tim Williams

The volume and repertoire were ideal for the occasion and I’m aware you put in a great deal of effort to ensure this would be the case. Following our conversation on the inclusion of a few ‘requests’, your arrangements for cello and violin were first-rate, extremely professional and greatly appreciated by those attending. – Major Simon Egan

Sarah and Jaya were the perfect addition to our wedding day. They made the ceremony feel really special; they accompanied my little sister-in-law while she sang and everyone was blown away by how beautiful it sounded. They add a touch of class and warmth to the day and they are genuinely lovely people – I can’t recommend them enough! – Leanne Haggerty