Dan Jones is a British composer and sound designer working in film and theatre. He read music at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, studied contemporary

music theatre Music theatre is a performance genre that emerged over the course of the 20th century, in opposition to more conventional genres like opera and musical theatre. The term came to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s to describe an avant-garde approach ...

at the Banff Centre for the Arts and studied electro-acoustic composition and programming at the Centro Ricerche Musicali in Rome. Having explored various means of generating music algorithmically, he is the author of one of the earliest pieces of software for generating

fractal In mathematics, a fractal is a Shape, geometric shape containing detailed structure at arbitrarily small scales, usually having a fractal dimension strictly exceeding the topological dimension. Many fractals appear similar at various scale ...

self-similar In mathematics, a self-similar object is exactly or approximately similar to a part of itself (i.e., the whole has the same shape as one or more of the parts). Many objects in the real world, such as coastlines, are statistically self-similar ...

music. He has won

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

and

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...

s. He composed the score for the

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

-winning documentary film Bobi Wine: The People's President.

Career

His scores for feature films include ''

Shadow of the Vampire ''Shadow of the Vampire'' is a 2000 horror film directed by E. Elias Merhige and written by Steven Katz. The film stars John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe. It is a fictionalized account of the making of the classic vampire film '' Nosferatu, ei ...

'' (starring

John Malkovich John Gavin Malkovich (born December 9, 1953) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and ...

and

Willem Dafoe William James "Willem" Dafoe ( ; born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. Known for his prolific career portraying diverse roles in both mainstream and arthouse films, he is the recipient of various accolades including a Volpi Cup Award for ...

), '' In Transit'' (also starring John Malkovich), '' Jericho Mansions'' (starring

James Caan James Edmund Caan ( ; March 26, 1940 – July 6, 2022) was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in ''The Godfather'' (1972), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Academy Award an ...

) and

Menno Meyjes Menno Meyjes (born 1954) is a Dutch screenwriter, film director, and producer. He is an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award nominee, and a Goya Award and Hugo Award winner. Biography Meyjes was born in Bloemendaal, North Holland in 1954. He moved ...

' ''

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

'' (starring

John Cusack John Paul Cusack ( ; born June 28, 1966)(28 June 1996)Today's birthdays ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'', ("Actors John Cusack is 30") is an American actor. With a career spanning over four decades, he has appeared in over 80 films. He began acting in f ...

), for which he received the

for Best Film Score 2004. He also scored Meyjes' follow up film ''

Manolete Manuel Laureano Rodríguez Sánchez (4 July 1917 – 29 August 1947), known as Manolete, was a Spanish bullfighter. Career Manuel Laureano Rodríguez Sánchez was the son of a bullfighter (who also went by the name Manolete) and his wife An ...

'' (starring

Adrien Brody Adrien Nicholas Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Polish pianist Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski's war drama '' The Pianist'' (2002) becoming the youngest acto ...

and

Penélope Cruz Penélope Cruz Sánchez (born 28 April 1974) is a Spanish actress. Prolific in Spanish and English-language films, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, a David di Donatello and three Goya Awards. Cru ...

). He has written for all the major British television broadcasters and his work includes

Sir David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and writer. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the nine nature d ...

's ''

The Life of Mammals ''The Life of Mammals'' is a nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the United Kingdom from 20 November 2002. It is a documentary on the study of the evolution and habits of the various mamma ...

'', the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

series ''

Strange Strange may refer to: Fiction * Strange (comic book), a comic book limited series by Marvel Comics * Strange (Marvel Comics), one of a pair of Marvel Comics characters known as The Strangers * Adam Strange, a DC Comics superhero * The title c ...

'', Pawel Pawlikowski's drama "Twockers", Charlie Brooker's Channel 4 horror series "Dead Set" and Francesca Joseph's "Tomorrow La Scala", Channel 4's three-part documentary " Visions of Heaven and Hell" shown in 1994. He collaborated with

Sebastião Salgado Sebastião Ribeiro Salgado Júnior (8 February 1944 – 23 May 2025) was a Brazilian social documentary photographer and photojournalist. He traveled in more than 120 countries for his photographic projects, which appeared in numerous press p ...

John Berger John Peter Berger ( ; 5 November 1926 – 2 January 2017) was an English art critic, novelist, painter and poet. His novel '' G.'' won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism '' Ways of Seeing'', written as an accompaniment to t ...

and Paul Carlin on the BBC Arena (television) special "The Spectre of Hope". He recently composed the music for the BAFTA Best Drama Serial Any Human Heart for Channel 4 which also won both BAFTA and Ivor Novello Best Television Score Awards. More recently, he composed the music for ITV's controversial Fred West drama, '

Appropriate Adult In English law, an appropriate adult is a parent, guardian or social worker; or if no person matching this is available, any responsible person over 18. The term was introduced as part of the policing reforms in the Police and Criminal Evidence A ...

'. In 1997 he teamed up with British trip hop group

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter ''aleph'' , whose name comes from the West Semitic word for ' ...

producing orchestral arrangements for their albums '' ComeFromHeaven'', '' The Impossible Thrill'' and

Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp (band), Pulp, he became a reluctant figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Cocker h ...

's cover of "This is Where I Came In" for

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol, England, by Robert Del Naja, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Daddy G, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Tricky (musician), Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew Vowles, Andrew "Mushroom" ...

's Melankolic label. He has also created music and soundscapes for large scale public artworks. He is the co-creator, with artist Luke Jerram, of Sky Orchestra where music is played from seven hot air balloons positioned over a city, making it one of the largest sound works in the world. After an initial informal performance in Bristol in 2003, Sky Orchestra was first successfully staged in Birmingham commissioned by Fierce! and was later re-commissioned by Fierce and 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 opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

as part of the Complete Works Festival. Sky Orchestra opened the Sydney Festival in 2007 and has also toured to Canada and Switzerland. He also produced the sound design for "Listening Posts, an art work by Daphne Wright to commemorate the Irish emigrants who left Cork's harbourside which produces an ever changing sound score throughout the year. His most recent work is ''Suburban Counterpoint'' subtitled "Music for Seven Ice Cream Vans" which was co-commissioned by London International Festival of Theatre (

LIFT Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobile ...

Norfolk and Norwich Festival Norfolk & Norwich Festival is an arts festival held annually in Norwich, England. It is one of the oldest city festivals in England, having been held since 1824 and tracing its roots back further to 1772. It was initially conceived as a fundra ...

and The Sydney Festival. In an idea dating back to 2000 the work, as the title suggests, uses seven ice cream vans to produce a surround sound score which inhabits an entire neighbourhood at once. Other works include the score for the

Rambert Dance Company Rambert (known as Rambert Dance Company before 2014) is a leading British dance company. Formed at the start of the 20th century as a classical ballet company, it exerted a great deal of influence on the development of dance in the United Kingd ...

's "Slippage" by choreographer William Tuckett. His music has been used by The European Space Agency and incorporated into

Isaac Julien Sir Isaac Julien (born 21 February 1960Annette Kuhn"Julien, Isaac (1960–)" BFI Screen Online.) is a British installation artist, filmmaker, and Distinguished Professor of the Arts at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Early life Juli ...

's ''Paradise Omeros'' which is exhibited at

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...

, London. He is founding member and co-artistic director of Sound and Fury Theatre Company whose productions pioneer the immersive use of experimental sound design. He co-directed and sound designed the theatre production

Kursk Kursk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur (Kursk Oblast), Kur, Tuskar, and Seym (river), Seym rivers. It has a population of Kursk ...

which toured the UK after a sellout run at the Young Vic theatre in London. It was also performed at the

Drill Hall A drill hall is a place such as a building or a hangar where soldiers practise and perform military drills. Description In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, the term was used for the whole headquarters building of a military reserve unit, ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in 2009 at the festival and at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

in 2011. He was the first ever recipient of a special jury prize for sound design at the Prague Quadrennial for his work on Sound and Fury's production of ''

'' alongside fellow sound designer Kathrine Sandys for her piece ''Hush''. In 2019 he was commissioned to create a work for the PRS New Music Biennial for which he adapted Music for Seven Ice Cream Vans which played outside on the Southbank Centre and toured to Hull His musical work is published by

Faber Music Faber Music is a British sheet music publisher best known for contemporary classical music. It also publishes music tutor books, and in 2005 acquired popular music publisher International Music Publications. Faber Music has close relations with ...

Awards and nominations

, Winner Best Original Filmscore,

– 2004 *

Prague Quadrennial Held in Prague once every four years since 1967, the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space or Prague Quadrennial is the world's largest event in the field of scenography, consisting of a competitive presentation of contemporary work in ...

2011 Winner Special Jury Prize for Excellence in Sound Design,

, Sound and Fury at the

Young Vic The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Nadia Fall has been artistic director since 2025, succeeding ...

, Winner Television Music, Any Human Heart — 2011 *

, Winner Best Original Television Music, Any Human Heart — 2011 *

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

, Nominee for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music, Any Human Heart — 2011 *

, Nominee for Best Music Composition for a miniseries, movie or special, Any Human Heart — 2011 * OFTA Television Award, Nominee for Best Music in a Non-Series,

— 2012 *

, Nominee Best Original Filmscore, Louis Theroux ~ My Scientology Movie – 2017 *

World Soundtrack Awards The World Soundtrack Awards, launched in 2001, are the annual awards for best Film score, film music, presented during the Film Fest Gent. The World Soundtrack Academy supports the art of film music through cultural, educational and professional ac ...

, Nominee for Discovery of the Year,

Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth is a leading character in William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Macbeth'' (). As the wife of the play's tragic hero, Macbeth (a Scottish nobleman), Lady Macbeth goads her husband into committing regicide, after which she becomes quee ...

– 2017 *

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

, Craft and Design Awards, Nominee for Best Title Music, SS-GB *

, Winner Best Original Television Music, The Miniaturist – 2018 *

, Nominee Best Original Television Music, SS-GB – 2018 * Music and Sound Awards, Nominee Best Television Music, The Miniaturist – 2018 * Music and Sound Awards, Nominee Best Sound Design for a Feature Film,

– 2018 * Music and Sound Awards, Nominee Best Title Theme, World On Fire – 2020 *

, Nominee Best Original Television Music, The Outlaws – 2021 *

Grierson Award Grierson: The British Documentary Awards, commonly known as The Grierson Awards, are awards bestowed by The Grierson Trust to recognise innovative and exciting documentary films, in honour of the pioneering Scottish documentary filmmaker John ...

, Nominee Best Current Affairs Documentary, Bobi Wine: The People's President – 2024 *

, Winner Best Sound Art, Each Tiny Drop - 2024

Discography

* ''

'' (original soundtrack) — 2001 * '' Anazapta'' (original soundtrack) — 2002 * ''

'' (original soundtrack) — 2003 * ''

'' (original soundtrack) — 2006 * ''

Dead Set ''Dead Set'' is a British satirical zombie horror television miniseries written and created by Charlie Brooker. The show takes place primarily on the set of a fictional series of the real television show '' Big Brother''. The five episodes, a ...

'' (original soundtrack) — 2008 * '' Any Human Heart'' (original soundtrack) – 2010 * '' The Hollow Crown ~ The Wars of the Roses'' (original soundtrack) – 2016 * '' Louis Theroux ~ My Scientology Movie'' (original soundtrack) – 2016 * ''

'' (original soundtrack) – 2016 * '' Any Human Heart'' (original soundtrack) – 2017 * '' The Miniaturist'' (original soundtrack) – 2018 * '' SS-GB'' (original soundtrack) – 2019 * ''Westwood Punk Icon Activist'' (original soundtrack) – 2019 * ''

Man in an Orange Shirt ''Man in an Orange Shirt'' is a two-part British television movie from the BBC. It was produced by Kudos Film and Television and premiered on 31 July 2017 at BBC One. The film drama tells three love stories from two generations of a family, in ...

'' (original soundtrack) – 2017 * ''PRS Foundation's New Music Biennial 2019 Music for Seven Ice Cream Vans'' – 2019

References

External links

Dan Jones' at Faber Music
*
The Kursk Theatre Production Website and ReviewsSky Orchestra in the Guardian May 2004
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Dan Ivor Novello Award winners English television composers English male composers English film score composers English male film score composers Living people People educated at Bristol Cathedral Choir School Musicians from Bristol Year of birth missing (living people)