Debbie Wiseman, OBE (born 10 May 1963) is a British composer for film and television, known also as a conductor and a radio and television presenter.

Biography

Wiseman was born in London. She studied at

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...

Junior Department, and then piano and

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

studying piano with James Gibb, and composition with

Buxton Orr Buxton Orr (18 April 1924 – 27 December 1997) was a Glasgow-born Anglo-Scottish composer and teacher. Life Originally trained as a doctor, Orr gave up medicine and switched to music in 1952, studying composition at the Guildhall School of Mu ...

. Wiseman is a Visiting Professor at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including perform ...

. In 2008 she composed ''Different Voices'' which was premiered by the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

as part of their 60th birthday celebrations, and the work is now frequently performed. In 2004 she was awarded an MBE in the

2004 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2004 were appointments by some of the Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

List, was awarded the OBE in the

2018 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as p ...

List and has been awarded Honorary Fellowships of Trinity College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Wiseman was admitted to the degree of Doctor of Music at the University of Sussex in 2015. Wiseman was awarded the Fellowship of the Royal College of Music in 2020.

Credits

Overview

Wiseman's film music credits include ''

Tom and Viv Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

'' (Nominated for two

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

and the

Alexander Korda Award Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

for Outstanding British Film, 1994); ''

Haunted Haunted or The Haunted may refer to: Books * ''Haunted'' (Armstrong novel), by Kelley Armstrong, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Cabot novel), by Meg Cabot, 2004 * ''Haunted'' (Palahniuk novel), by Chuck Palahniuk, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Angel novel), a 200 ...

''; '' Wilde'' (Nominated for Best Original Film Score,

Ivor Novello Awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...

, 1997); ''

Tom's Midnight Garden ''Tom's Midnight Garden'' is a children's fantasy novel by Philippa Pearce. It was first published in 1958 by Oxford University Press with illustrations by Susan Einzig. It has been reissued in print many times and also adapted for radio, tele ...

''; '' The Guilty''; '' Before You Go''; ''

Arsène Lupin Arsène Lupin (French pronunciation: ʁsɛn lypɛ̃ is a fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise created in 1905 by French writer Maurice Leblanc. The character was first introduced in a series of short stories serialized in the magazi ...

'' (Winner of Best Score for a Foreign language film and nominated for Score of the Year, Movie Music UK Awards, 2005); ''

Flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

'' (Nominated for Best Score for a Horror/Thriller, IFMCA Awards, 2007); and ''

Lesbian Vampire Killers ''Lesbian Vampire Killers'' is a 2009 British comedy horror film directed by Phil Claydon and written by Stewart Williams and Paul Hupfield. The film stars James Corden and Mathew Horne, with MyAnna Buring, Vera Filatova, Silvia Colloca and ...

'' (Nominated for Best Score for a Comedy, IFMCA Awards, 2009). Amongst her television music credits are '' Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators'' (2018); ''

Dickensian Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

'' (2015); ''

Wolf Hall ''Wolf Hall'' is a 2009 historical novel by English author Hilary Mantel, published by Fourth Estate, named after the Seymour family's seat of Wolfhall, or Wulfhall, in Wiltshire. Set in the period from 1500 to 1535, ''Wolf Hall'' is a symp ...

'' (2015); ''A Poet in New York'' (2013); ''

The Whale A whale is a sea mammal. Whale or The Whale may also refer to: Places Extraterrestrial * Cetus, a constellation also known as "The Whale" * Cthulhu Regio on Pluto, unofficially called Whale United Kingdom * Whale, Cumbria, England, a hamlet ...

'' (2013); '' Lost Christmas'' (Winner of Best Kids TV Movie / Mini-series,

International Emmy Awards The International Emmy Awards, or International Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based International Academy of Television Arts and ...

, 2013); '' The Passion''; '' Jekyll''; '' The Promise'' (Nominated for Best Drama Serial,

BAFTA Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...

, 2011); ''

He Knew He Was Right ''He Knew He Was Right'' is an 1869 novel written by Anthony Trollope which describes the failure of a marriage caused by the unreasonable jealousy of a husband exacerbated by the stubbornness of a wilful wife. As is common with Trollope's work ...

''; '' Warriors'' (Best Original Score ( RTS Awards, 2000), Winner of Best Drama (

The South Bank Show ''The South Bank Show'' is a British television arts magazine series originally produced by London Weekend Television and broadcast on ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new version of the series began 27 May 2012 on Sky Arts. Conceived, written, ...

Awards, 2000) & Winner of Best Drama Serial (

, 2000)); ''

Father Brown Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective who is featured in 53 short stories published between 1910 and 1936 written by English author G. K. Chesterton. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intui ...

''; '' WPC 56''; ''

The Coroner ''The Coroner'' is a BBC Birmingham drama series starring Claire Goose as Jane Kennedy, a coroner based in a fictional South Devon coastal town. Matt Bardock stars as Detective Sergeant Davey Higgins. On 2 March 2017, the BBC announced that t ...

'': '' Land Girls'' (Winner of

Broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began wi ...

Award, 2010); ''

Joanna Lumley's Nile Joanna is a feminine given name deriving from from he, יוֹחָנָה, translit=Yôḥānāh, lit=God is gracious. Variants in English include Joan, Joann, Joanne, and Johanna. Other forms of the name in English are Jan, Jane, Janet, Jan ...

''; ''

Fry's Planet Word ''Fry's Planet Word'' is a documentary series about language. Written and presented by Stephen Fry, five hour-long episodes were first broadcast in September and October 2011 on BBC Two and BBC HD. The series was produced and directed by John-P ...

''; '' Stephen Fry in America''; ''

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cyp ...

'' (Nominated for Best Single Drama,

, 2002); '' The Project''; ''

Judge John Deed ''Judge John Deed'' is a British legal drama television series produced by the BBC in association with One-Eyed Dog for BBC One. It was created by G.F. Newman and stars Martin Shaw as Mr Justice Deed, a High Court judge who tries to seek real ...

''; ''

Feather Boy ''Feather boy'' is a novel by Brighton-based author Nicky Singer; it was first published in 2002 by HarperCollins, under the Collins imprint and reissued under the Essential Modern Classics imprint in 2010. A TV adaptation was created by the B ...

'' (Best Children's Drama,

, 2004); '' The Inspector Lynley Mysteries''; ''

Michael Palin's New Europe ''Michael Palin's New Europe'' is a travel documentary presented by Michael Palin and first aired in the UK on the BBC on 16 September 2007 and in the US on the Travel Channel on 28 January 2008. Palin visits 20 countries in Central and Eastern ...

'' ("Wild East" & "Baltic Summer"); ''

The Andrew Marr Show ''The Andrew Marr Show'' is a Sunday morning talk show presented by Andrew Marr. It was broadcast on BBC One from 2005 to 2021. The programme replaced the long-running '' Breakfast with Frost'' as the network's flagship Sunday talk show when D ...

''; ''

Stig of the Dump ''Stig of the Dump'' is a children's novel by Clive King which was first published in the United Kingdom in 1963. It is regarded as a modern children's classic and is often read in schools. It was illustrated by Edward Ardizzone and has been t ...

'' (

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

Winner, 2002).

2000s

Her album ''Wilde Stories'' was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

and was used on a set of animated films made in 2003 for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

. Wiseman conducted the National Symphony Orchestra playing the music live to accompany screenings in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

of two of those films, ''The Selfish Giant'' and ''The Nightingale and the Rose''. In 2007 she was awarded the Gold Badge of Merit by the British Academy of Composers & Songwriters. In 2008 she composed and conducted the CD ''Different Voices'' with the

, with narration by

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

and solo vocals performed by

Hayley Westenra Hayley Dee Westenra (born 10 April 1987) is a New Zealand classical crossover singer and songwriter. Her first internationally released album, '' Pure'', reached number one on the UK classical charts in 2003 and has sold more than two million ...

, The lyrics are written by Don Black.

2010s

In the Classic FM Top 100 2010 Movie Music Chart, Wiseman's score for ''Wilde'' was voted in at number 12 by the station's listeners. In 2011 Wiseman presented a Radio 4 programme on the composer,

Joseph Horowitz Joseph Horowitz (born 1948 in New York City) is an American cultural historian whose seven books mainly deal with the institutional history of classical music in the United States. As a producer of concerts, he has played a pioneering role in p ...

, and appeared on the panel of ''Your

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a "castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usua ...

at Christmas'' with

Bill Bailey Mark Robert Bailey (born 13 January 1965), known professionally as Bill Bailey, is an English musician, comedian and actor. He is known for his role as Manny in the sitcom '' Black Books'' and his appearances on the panel shows '' Never Mind th ...

and

Jo Whiley Johanne Whiley-Morton (born 4 July 1965), better known by her professional name Jo Whiley, is an English radio DJ and television presenter. She was the host of the long-running weekday later weekend '' Jo Whiley Show'' on BBC Radio 1. She curre ...

, presented by

Kirsty Young Kirsty Jackson Young (born 23 November 1968) is a Scottish television and radio presenter. From 2006 to 2018 she was the main presenter of BBC Radio 4's '' Desert Island Discs''. She presented ''Crimewatch'' on BBC One from 2008 to 2015. Ear ...

. Since 2011, Wiseman has been signed as a recording artist to Warner Classics, her first solo album for the label, ''Piano Stories'', which featured piano solo performances by the composer of many of her scores, entered the UK Classical Artist Album Chart at number 10. She presented a

series ''Backtracks'', examining the role of music in film and television productions. In 2013 she presented ''Scoring Father Brown'' for Radio 4, which followed her composition process through the various stages as she scored the music for the BBC drama series. She also scored '' A Poet in New York'', which was broadcast in 2014 on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

. In 2015 she wrote the theme tune and incidental music for BBC1's daytime drama ''

''. In late March 2015, Wiseman's original score for the acclaimed BBC drama series, ''Wolf Hall'', entered the UK's Classic FM chart at number 1. In the following year, it won the Royal Television Society West Awards for Best Composer, Drama, and the Music and Sound Awards for Best Original Composition, Television Programme Score. Wiseman is Classic FM's Composer in Residence and her first album commissioned by Classic FM, ''The Musical Zodiac'', reached Number 2 in the UK Classical Chart in September 2016. In 2016 she composed the soundtrack to the

Sheila Hancock Dame Sheila Cameron Hancock (born 22 February 1933) is an English actress, singer, and author. Hancock trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before starting her career in repertory theatre. Hancock went on to perform in plays and music ...

2017 film Edie. Wiseman has composed new signature music for Viking Cruises and was honoured as Godmother to their new river ship, Viking Herja in March 2017. Wiseman's second album commissioned by Classic FM, ''The Glorious Garden'', a collaboration with Alan Titchmarsh, was released in March 2018 and topped the UK Classical Chart for three weeks.

2020s

Wiseman's album ''The Mythos Suite'', a collaboration with

, went to number 1 in the UK classical charts on its release in February 2020. Wiseman's album to celebrate the Queen's 95th birthday ''The Music of Kings and Queens'', with narration by

Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (born Helen Lydia Mironoff; born 26 July 1945) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, she is the only performer to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting in both the United States and the United Kingdom ...

and

Damian Lewis Damian Watcyn Lewis (born 11 February 1971) is an English actor, presenter and producer. He is best known for portraying U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'', which earned him a Golden Globe nomination ...

, went to number 1 in the UK Classical charts on its release in June 2021. Debbie was voted the most popular living composer in Classic FM Hall of Fame 2022 with seven entries: ''Wolf Hall'', ''Shakespeare and Hathaway'', ''Wilde'', ''The Musical Zodiac'', ''The Mythos Suite'', ''The Music of Kings and Queens'', and ''The Glorious Garden'' reaching its highest ever position in the chart at number 4. Wiseman was the official composer and musical director of the Platinum Jubilee Celebration at Windsor in May 2022.

References

External links

Official website

* ttp://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar98/articles/debbie.html Interviewat Sound on Sound
Biography
at cinemusic
Debbie Wiseman
at Soundtrackguide.net

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wiseman, Debbie, female English film score composers English television composers Women film score composers English conductors (music) Women conductors (music) Musicians from London British music educators Ivor Novello Award winners Officers of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Alumni of Trinity College of Music 1963 births Living people 21st-century British conductors (music) 21st-century women musicians