Gary Lloyd (born 1965) is a Canadian-born British composer and producer. He has composed music for productions in theatre, contemporary dance, television drama and documentary, film, art installation, '' son et lumiere'', narrative/music works, and orchestral concert performances. He also works as a record producer, and lectures on aspects of music. He is a graduate of the University of Chester where he studied mathematics, fine art and history of art, and psychology. He lives in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

with his partner the dancer and choreographer Bettina Carpi.

Past works

Past works include the theatrical scores for

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

's ' Huis Clos' (''No Way Out'') (2001) and

Arthur Kopit Arthur Lee Kopit (; May 10, 1937 – April 2, 2021) was an American playwright. He was a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist for ''Indians (play), Indians'' and ''Wings (play), Wings''. He was also nominated for three Tony Awards: Best Play for ...

's ''Road To Nirvana'' (2006) both directed by actor and director

Colin McFarlane Colin Andrew Ignatius Peter McFarlane (born 15 September 1961) is a British actor, narrator and voice actor. He is known for his roles in film and television including Gillian B. Loeb in two films of Christopher Nolan's '' The Dark Knight Tril ...

, soundtracks for the ''Tshukudu'' series of wildlife documentaries by ''Marianne Wilding'' (1998–2005), music for the contemporary dance piece ''Nocturne'' choreographed by Marc Brew (2009 and onwards including a performance at

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a London performing arts venue, located in Rosebery Avenue, Islington. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site. Sadler's Wells grew out of a late 17th-century pleasure garden and was opened as a theatre buil ...

in 2014), music for installations with the artist Michelle Molyneux (2007), and music for the contemporary dance piece ''Track'' choreographed by ''Paula Hampson'' (1997–1998). Earlier works include the soundtrack for the stage version of

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (; born Neil Richard Gaiman; 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic series ''The Sandman (comic book), The Sandma ...

and

Dave McKean David McKean (born 29 December 1963) is an England, English artist. His work incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, digital art, and sculpture. McKean has illustrated works by authors such as S. F. Said, S.F. Said, ...

's ' Violent Cases' directed by ''Eric Jarvis'' (1988). He created two narrative/music pieces that were released on CD: the first based on ''

The Bridge The Bridge may refer to: Art, entertainment and media Art * ''The Bridge'' (sculpture), a 1997 sculpture in Atlanta, Georgia, US * Die Brücke (''The Bridge''), a group of German expressionist artists * ''The Bridge'' (M. C. Escher), a lithograph ...

'' (1996) by

Iain Banks Iain Banks (16 February 1954 – 9 June 2013) was a Scottish author, writing mainstream fiction as Iain Banks and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, adding the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies (). After the success of '' The Wasp Fact ...

and the second ''

Brought to Light ''Brought to Light'' – subtitled ''Thirty Years of Drug Smuggling, Arms Deals, and Covert Action'' – is an anthology of two political graphic novels, published originally by Eclipse Comics in 1988 in comics, 1988. Creation Both stories were ...

'' (1998) based on the comic book written by

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

. Lloyd worked in collaboration with the novelists on each and Banks and Moore each voiced their respective works. Banks and Lloyd were frequent collaborators and they co-composed a collection of songs as an album in tribute to the fictional band from Banks's novel ''

Espedair Street ''Espedair Street'' is a novel by Scottish writer Iain Banks, published in 1987. Plot introduction The book tells the (fictional) story of the rise to fame of Dan Weir ('Weird'), a bass guitar player in a rock and roll band called Frozen Gold, ...

'' – a tribute to a band that never existed – first mooted in 1999 by Lloyd and also discussed in Banks's only non-fiction book ''

Raw Spirit ''Raw Spirit: In Search of the Perfect Dram'' is a nonfiction book by Iain Banks, first published in 2003. It is his only nonfiction book. The book is about whisky, or finding the perfect dram while travelling in Scotland. Other recurring theme ...

''. This collaborative project between Banks and Lloyd was restarted in 2005 and although the groundwork of the project was completed to date it remains unreleased. Lloyd spoke at length about his work with Banks at the 2014 Huddersfield Literature Festival and about his work with Moore at the 2010 Magus Conference at the

University of Northampton The University of Northampton is a public university based in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England. It was formed in 1999 by the amalgamation of a number of training colleges, and gained full university status as the University of Northampto ...

. In 2014 Lloyd composed ''The Bridge Redux (In Memoriam Iain Banks)'' which was performed by the Worldcon Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Keith Slade at

Loncon 3 The 72nd World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Loncon 3, was held on 14–18 August 2014 at the ExCeL London in London, United Kingdom. The convention committee was co-chaired by Alice Lawson and Steve Cooper and organize ...

, the

72nd World Science Fiction Convention The 72nd World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Loncon 3, was held on 14–18 August 2014 at the ExCeL London in London, United Kingdom. The convention committee was co-chaired by Alice Lawson and Steve Cooper and organized ...

, at the ExCeL London to an audience of four thousand. He introduced the piece with a personal tribute to Banks who was guest of honour.

Company Carpi

Company Carpi is the name of the dance theatre company established by Bettina Carpi and Gary Lloyd. The company aim is to produce work which "combines music & dance with other art forms to present imaginative live performance pieces which address societal topics". Company Carpi's first fully funded (by Arts Council England and other sources) production was ''The Mirror Of Love'' based on the prose-poem by

which was first performed in 2017. The company followed this in 2018 with ''Knots'' based on the book by revolutionary psychiatrist R.D. Laing, ''The Stumbling Block'' based on the poetry cycle by

Brian Catling Brian Catling (23 October 1948 – 26 September 2022) was a British sculptor, poet, novelist, film maker and performance artist. Early life and career Catling was educated at North East London Polytechnic and the Royal College of Art. He he ...

in 2019, and in 2021/22 ''When You Light A Candle, You Also Cast A Shadow'' featuring a poetry cycle by Mary Talbot who was specially commissioned for the piece. ''When You Light A Candle, You Also Cast A Shadow'' was nominated for a One Dance UK Award in 2022.

Works in progress

Lloyd is currently working with Bettina Carpi on a dance theatre adaptation of Mary Talbot and

Bryan Talbot Bryan Talbot (born 24 February 1952) is a British comics artist and writer, best known as the creator of '' The Adventures of Luther Arkwright'' and its sequels '' Heart of Empire'' and '' The Legend of Luther Arkwright'', as well as the ''Gra ...

's Costa Award-winning graphic novel ' Dotter of her Father's Eyes'. Lloyd, Carpi, the Talbots, and dancer Christopher Owen presented work in progress at the Huddersfield Literature Festival 2015. The eventual form of the production will be opera with dance, extracts of the opera were presented at Dublin Worldcon in August 2019 in the 2000 seat auditorium of the CCD in Dublin, and performed by a cast of three singers, an actor, two dancers and the 53-piece Worldcon Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Keith Slade. Lloyd is also currently in the preparatory stages of composing his first orchestral symphony. In Spring 2023 Company Carpi will tour their One Dance UK Award 2022 nominated piece ''When You Light A Candle, You Also Cast A Shadow'' around North West UK and will also launch an original anthology opera called ''Disunited Jukebox'' composed by Gary Lloyd with around twenty guest librettists, including established and well-known writers as well as emerging young talent.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, Gary British composers Contemporary dance 1965 births Living people Alumni of the University of Chester