David Arch, better known as Dave Arch, is a British pianist, conductor, arranger and composer with a career covering albums, films and commercials, television and live performances. He is

Musical Director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the ...

and arranger for

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

's ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

''.

Early life

Arch's father was

Gwyn Arch Gwyn Arch Member of the Order of the British Empire, MBE (4 May 1931 – June 2021) was a British arrangement, musical arranger, composer, and choirmaster, choir director. Early life Arch was born in Southampton on 4 May 1931, to a Welsh f ...

, a composer and choral director. Arch grew up in Sonning Common, near

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buc ...

, South Oxfordshire and attended Chiltern Edge School and King James College, Henley-on-Thames, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He was a member of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra.

Career

Television career

Arch is best known for his role as

and arranger for BBC Television's ''

'', joining in 2006 after working as Musical Director on two series of ''

Strictly Dance Fever ''Strictly Dance Fever'' is a British television programme, broadcast on BBC One on Saturday evenings. It was an amateur dance talent competition, hosted by Graham Norton, which ran during Spring 2005 and Spring 2006. It had 2 extra shows, The S ...

'', and '' Just the Two of Us''. He was also Musical Director for recent productions of the ''

Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal f ...

'' for

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

, including in 2021, the hundredth anniversary at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

, and for ITV's series '' Stepping Out'' and '' Popstar to Operastar''. In 2013, Arch was musical director and band leader for the television special ''When Miranda Met Bruce''. In 2015, he was the musical director and band leader for the '' Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits'' special, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest. That same year, he was the chairperson of the United Kingdom's national jury for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015.

Compositions

Arch was commissioned to produce the original themes and stings for the British television broadcaster

GMTV GMTV (an acronym for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited, was the name of the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 ...

, broadcast between 1993 and 2010. Subsequent themes were all based on his original melody. In 1986, Arch recorded a series of albums on red vinyl for UK-based Cavendish Music Library, which also featured Ray Russell on guitar. In 2005 Arch played keyboards for the Greg Lake Band. In October 2016, Arch released his debut album ''Coming Home'', consisting of his own compositions and including collaborations with his son, his father and "Strictly" colleague singer Tommy Blaize. The album was recorded and co-produced by

Haydn Bendall Haydn Bendall (born 13 April 1951, Essex, England) is an English people, English record producer, Audio engineering, audio engineer and Mixing engineer, mixer. He was Chief Engineer at Abbey Road Studios for ten years and was awarded the Audio P ...

at Abbey Road, Air, Rak and Strongroom studios.

References

External links

*
Discography
at dave-arch.com

at dave-arch.com

at dave-arch.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Arch, David Living people Strictly Come Dancing British male composers Year of birth missing (living people) Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama