Simon Wallace
Subject Leader & Module Leader - Composition, Arranging & Analysis
Simon Wallace has had a 40 year international career as a composer, performer, musical director, record producer and teacher.
Grew up in South Wales and studied piano and cello at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama before graduating from University College Oxford in 1978 with BA Hons in music. He then studied with jazz musicians in London and New York.
Current work:
Composer/Producer developing music for apps, CDs, DVDs, and Radio projects. Recent work includes music for Emma Thompson’s ‘Peter Rabbit’ series and Anthony Horowitz’s ‘Alex Rider’ series. Currently working on music for ‘Saypen’ versions of classic Children’s Books for the Chinese market.
Composing and producing music for Julian Clary’s 2019 theatre tour.
Composing instrumental jazz suite ‘London Lights’ to be premiered at the 2018 London Jazz Festival in November 2018.
Previous work includes:
For 30 years worked with Simon Brint writing and producing music for film and TV beginning with with ‘A Shocking Accident’ (Oscar for best short film 1981) and culminating with Ronnie Corbett’s 2010 BBC Christmas show ‘The One Ronnie‘. They wrote and produced music for some of Britain’s most popular television shows including: ‘Absolutely Fabulous’, ‘Murder Most Horrid’, ‘Monarch of the Glen’, ‘French and Saunders’, ‘The Ruby Wax Show’, , ‘The All New Alexie Sayle Show’, ‘Coupling’, ‘The Ben Elton Show’, ‘All Rise For Julian Clary’, ‘Tracey Ullman Takes On New York’, ‘A Bit of Fry and Laurie’, ‘The Lenny Henry Show’ and many others. They arranged and MDd TV appearances by: Kylie Minogue, Marianne Faithful, Lulu, Suggs, Sinead O’Connor Boy George, P.P. Arnold, Colin Bluntstone, Julie Tippett, Marcella Detroit and Mari Wilson.
From 1993 until her death in 2011 he wrote with the great American lyricist Fran Landesman publishing over 300 songs. So far more than 50 have been recorded by singers on both sides of the Atlantic. Theatre shows based on their work have been produced in London, Bath, Edinburgh, New York, Chicago, St Louis and Gdansk.
His concert works include two symphonies commissioned by the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra for Thai royal state occasions.
Has worked extensively in theatre and has composed musicals produced at the National Theatre, the Young Vic and The Edinburgh Festival. West End credits include ‘Elegies For Angels Punks and Raging Queens’ (M.D.) and ‘Money To Burn’ (music supervisor). For several years in the 90s toured worldwide as a member of the Lindsay Kemp Company.
As a pianist he is a familiar face on the British jazz scene and has been musical director for jazz singers Clare Teal, Ian Shaw, Gill Manly, Claire Martin and Sarah Moule. He spent several years as pianist/arranger/producer for cabaret singer Barb Jungr touring Europe, USA and Australia and was MD for Imelda Staunton’s one woman shows in London, New York and Kenya.
He has worked as a sideman and session musician in many diverse areas of the music industry. He has recorded with Jeff Beck, performed with blues legend Hubert Sumlin and been a member of The Waterboys.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0908867/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Wallace