William Owen Gregory (born 17 September 1959) is an English musician and record producer. He is best known as the lead

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical inst ...

, producer, and composer of the

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electro ...

duo

Goldfrapp Goldfrapp are an English electronic music duo from London, formed in 1999. The duo consists of Alison Goldfrapp (vocals, synthesiser) and Will Gregory (synthesiser). Despite favourable reviews and a short-listing for the Mercury Prize, their ...

Early life

Gregory was born in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

, the son of an actress and an opera chorus-line singer.

"I got into music kind of by default as it was the only thing I was good at – I was the weird one at school who practiced the piano during lunch break. In my teens I met other musicians and was so relieved to find some like-minds that I think I never wanted to leave the 'weird' muso club – perhaps it’s the same for many musicians. I ended up playing oboe and then moved on to sax, which got me into diverse musical disciplines."

He studied Western orchestral and chamber music at the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for post-nominals) is a collegiate research university, located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, co ...

Career

In the 1980s, Gregory predominantly recorded and toured with

Tears for Fears Tears for Fears are an English pop rock band formed in Bath, England, in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, Tears for Fears were associated with the new ...

. In the 1990s, Gregory performed with artists including

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

the Cure The Cure are an English rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith has remained the only constant member. The band's ...

, and Portishead, as well as playing

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

for

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

and recording with Paula Rae Gibson. In 1991, he played saxophone with the

London Sinfonietta The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert in 1968—giv ...

for the Paris début of John Adams's opera ''Nixon in China''. In 1999, vocalist

Alison Goldfrapp Alison Elizabeth Margaret Goldfrapp (born 13 May 1966) is an English musician and record producer, known as the vocalist of English electronic music duo Goldfrapp. Early life Goldfrapp was born on 13 May 1966, in Enfield, London, the youngest ...

and Gregory formed the duo

. The pairing has led to international critical, popular, and commercial success. In the 2000s, as well as Goldfrapp activities, he played saxophone on Portishead's 2008 album ''Third'' (on the tracks " Magic Doors" and "Threads"). On 31 March 2011, Gregory's first opera, ''Piccard in Space'', premiered at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London. The

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major li ...

Hattie Naylor Hattie Naylor is an English playwright. Her 2009 ''Ivan and the Dogs'' won the Tinniswood Award for original radio drama and was nominated in the 2010 Olivier Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Theatre. It has since been developed into a film ...

focused on

Auguste Piccard Auguste Antoine Piccard (28 January 1884 – 24 March 1962) was a Swiss physicist, inventor and explorer known for his record-breaking hydrogen balloon flights, with which he studied the Earth's upper atmosphere. Piccard was also known for h ...

and Paul Kipfer's first balloon ascent, and the theories of

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theor ...

and

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, Theology, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosophy, natural philosopher"), widely ...

, both of whom are characters in the drama. The reviews were generally negative. On 11 March 2013, a newly commissioned baroquesque Gregory work (for orchestra and Moog, based on a

sarabande The sarabande (from es, zarabanda) is a dance in triple metre, or the music written for such a dance. History The Sarabande evolved from a Spanish dance with Arab influences, danced by a lively double line of couples with castanets. A dance c ...

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

) was performed at the Roundhouse in London. The performance was part of

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also featuring. The sta ...

's ''Baroque Remixed'' series, which also included a piece by

Matthew Herbert Matthew Herbert (born 1972), also known as Herbert, Doctor Rockit, Radio Boy, Mr. Vertigo, Transformer, and Wishmountain, is a British electronic musician. He often takes sounds from everyday items to produce electronic music. Career Mat ...

. Gregory's other saxophone work includes writing for and playing with the Apollo Saxophone Quartet, and playing with

Spiritualized Spiritualized (stylised as Spiritualized®) are an English rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Jason Pierce (often known as J. Spaceman), formerly of Spacemen 3. After several line up-changes, in 1999, the band centered on Pi ...

, Moondog and

Michael Nyman Michael Laurence Nyman, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film scores (many written during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Gre ...

. He composed the music for the 2017 series ''

Spy in the Wild ''Spy in the Wild'' is a British nature documentary television series, produced by BBC Natural History Unit, John Downer Productions and PBS. The series, which is directed and produced by John Downer, premiered in 2017 with a second series in ...

''. He composed the music for the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

's 2019 production of '' King John'' at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon. It was announced in 2021 that Gregory would provide an original score featuring Alison Goldfrapp and Adrian Utley for the BBC and

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service pr ...

psychological thriller series ''Chloe''.

Discography

with

*''

Songs from the Big Chair ''Songs from the Big Chair'' is the second studio album by English pop rock band Tears for Fears, released on 25 February 1985 by Phonogram Records. The album peaked at number two in the UK and at number one in the US, becoming a multi-platinum s ...

'' (1985) with

* '' Little Earthquakes'' (1992) with

* ''

OVO ''OVO'' (also released as ''OVO: The Millennium Show'') is a soundtrack album by English singer-songwriter and musician Peter Gabriel and his eleventh album overall. It was released on 12 June 2000 by Real World Records as the soundtrack to t ...

'' (2000) * '' Up'' (2002) * '' Long Walk Home: Music from the Rabbit-Proof Fence'' (2002) with Portishead * '' Roseland NYC Live'' (1998) * ''

Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hi ...

'' (2008) with other artists * ''Four Ways to Cook a Goose'' – Loggerheads (1987) * ''Gas Giants'' – Gas Giants (1994) Film Soundtracks * '' I.D.'' (1995) * ''Serengeti'' (2020, BBC/Discovery Channel wildlife documentary)

References

External links

Will Gregory
*
Will Gregory Studio Interview PT1Will Gregory Studio Interview PT2Inside The Goldfrapp StudioGoldfrapp: Will Gregory Interview PT2Will Gregory
» Synthtopia
Will Gregory's Moog Ensemble
–

Vimeo Vimeo, Inc. () is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software as ...

Will Gregory Interview – The Moog Ensemble! – MusicTech

GWill Gregory Interview with Tanya Raemp3
– FBi 94.5FM,

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory, Will 1959 births English songwriters English rock saxophonists English classical saxophonists British male saxophonists English rock keyboardists English record producers Goldfrapp members Musicians from Bristol Ivor Novello Award winners English classical musicians English classical composers English new wave musicians British synth-pop new wave musicians Living people Alumni of the University of York 21st-century saxophonists

Early life

Career

Discography

See also

References

External links