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Simon Dobson (born 1981) is an English composer particularly noted for his brass band compositions.


Biography

Dobson was born in
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, England. Having grown up in a brass banding family, he was educated at Launceston College where he was taught by the influential Rob Strike. Dobson moved to London at age 18 on a scholarship to study
composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...
under
Timothy Salter Timothy Salter (born in Mexborough, Yorkshire in 1942) is an English composer, conductor and pianist. Biography Timothy Salter studied at St John's College, Cambridge, where he won the John Stewart of Rannoch Scholarship in sacred music. His ...
, Theo Verby and George Benjamin, at the
Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...
. While at college, Dobson wrote music for many different ensembles including, wind orchestra,
string orchestra A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first ...
,
percussion ensemble A percussion ensemble is a musical ensemble consisting of only percussion instruments. Although the term can be used to describe any such group, it commonly refers to groups of classically trained percussionists performing primarily classical m ...
and the RCM
symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...
. He received his first commission, from the
London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...
in 2002 during his second year of study. In 2004 he was a featured composer at the world-famous
Three Choirs Festival 200px, Worcester cathedral 200px, Gloucester cathedral The Three Choirs Festival is a music festival held annually at the end of July, rotating among the cathedrals of the Three Counties (Hereford, Gloucester and Worcester) and originally featu ...
and composed ''Sinewave,'' a contemporary work based on electronic music. In 2002 Dobson also won the European Brass Band composers' competition in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, which led to his being commissioned to write the test work for the 2003 English regional Fourth section brass band competition, ''Lydian Pictures''. A number of other commissions followed including a work for the national youth brass band finals of Great Britain, including a march for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
Music Live festival, and Brass Band Heritage Trust. At RCM, Dobson was part of a group of students who formed 'Zone One Brass', a championship section band which he conducted for four years before moving away from London in 2004 after earning his B.Mus and graduating to the sounds of his own fanfare. In 2007, Simon Dobson wrote the set piece for the European Brass band championships 'B' section, and his work ''The Drop'', (based on Drum 'n' Bass DJ techniques), has been performed a number of times in some major concert venues, including the
Birmingham Symphony Hall Symphony Hall is a 2,262 seat concert venue in Birmingham, England. It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 12 June 1991, although it had been in use since 15 April 1991. It is home to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and hos ...
. He has been Composer in Residence with both the
Leyland Band The Leyland Band is a brass band based in Lancashire in the UK. History The Leyland Band was established in 1946 in the heart of industrial Lancashire as the Leyland Motors Band,Lancashire Post https://www.lep.co.uk/whats-on/music/leyland-b ...
, the Brighouse and Rastrick and the
Fairey Band The Fairey Band is a brass band based in Heaton Chapel in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The band has achieved fame in modern music circles with its appearances playing Acid Brass although they still play traditional brass band music and part ...
. Dobson also works as a freelance conductor and is well known for his work with youth ensembles and players. His conducting led him to coach many of London's championship standard bands, taking him nationwide, as well as to Norway for the Norwegian Brass band championships in the NM 2008–11 and Switzerland. He worked with former national youth champions Mount Charles Youth Band, as well as the Devon County Youth band and the Cornwall Youth Brass Band, for whom he wrote his composition ''Penlee''. Dobson played
horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...
in the Dirty Pop band, 'Men of Splendour', performing all over England, playing festival crowds in excess of 10,000 people. As a conductor, he conducted 'Zone One Brass', his own band, including at
Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...
. Dobson continues to compose many different types of music, such as
Drum 'n' Bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...
, Dub,
Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
,
Breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK ...
and, more recently, animated
film scores A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...
, as well as providing film music for timelapse film company, Lobster Pictures Ltd. His music is published by Faber, London. Dobson was the winner of the Denis and Maud Wright conducting award and now holds the post of Assistant Musical Director at the
National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
, studying under
Bramwell Tovey Bramwell Tovey (11 July 1953 – 12 July 2022) was a British conductor and composer. Life and career Tovey was educated at Ilford County High School, the Royal Academy of Music and the University of London. His formal music education was as ...
. Simon Dobson has undertaken judging and adjudication work. He judged the 2010 Scottish open brass band championships in Perth; on this occasion he was judging performances of his own piece ''... and when the river told ...''. He also judged the Swiss National Brass band championships in the Stravinsky hall in Montreux. In April 2011 he returned to Montreux with the Fairey (Geneva) Band to hear them perform the world première of his latest composition 'A Symphony of Colours' at the European Brass Band Championships. In May 2011 Dobson's work ''Penlee'' (based on the
Penlee lifeboat disaster Penlee may refer to * Penlee House - a house and art gallery in Penzance in the UK * Penlee Point, Mousehole - a promentary near Penzance in the UK * Penlee Point, Rame - a promentary near Plymouth in the UK * the Penlee Quarry railway in Newlyn in ...
) was voted in at number 106 in the Classic FM Hall of Fame. It was the highest new entry of any genre and Dobson was the seventh highest living composer in the 300-strong list. This work has been used worldwide as a test piece in brass band competitions; it was the set work for the Swiss national finals and the North American championships. Dobson has played trumpet for various funk/soul/jazz and hip hop bands, working for producers across the southwest and recording studio sessions for bands such as
The King Blues The King Blues are a British punk rock band from London credited for fusing punk and hip hop together with influences from ska and spoken word. Tariq Ali described the band's sounds as "rough, radical music that should unsettle the rulers of t ...
. He appears on three of the album tracks on their new album
Punk & Poetry ''Punk & Poetry'' is the third album by The King Blues. It was released on 17 April 2011 on digital download, and on CD the following day.
and produced the track ''5 Bottles of Shampoo''. The album charted at number 31 in the UK charts. Dobson has received various commissions, notably from the Fairey (Geneva) Brass Band to compose 'A Symphony of Colours' for their entry to the European Brass Band Championships. Upcoming works include 'Another World's Hell' for a major brass and wind festival in Switzerland and performances at the RNCM festival of brass as well as performances at the 2013 Australian Brass Band Championships in Perth. He performs as part of 'The Badcore Horns', a session horns for hire collective of which he is a founding member. Recently they have recorded for various artist such as Granville Sessions, Madness, Jag Harps, We are the Ocean, Dry The River, Electric Swing Circus, Canterbury, Kat Marsh, Andreas Moe, Luke Concannon, Lazy Habits and many more. In 2012 Simon Won a British Composer of the year Award (BASCA) for his work 'A Symphony of Colours', and in 2014 Simon prepares to release his first solo album 'Euneirophrenia'. In October 2014 Simon will see the premier of his first feature-length film soundtrack. Commissioned by the British Film Institute for the 105 minute long WWI epic 'The Battles of Coronel and the Falkland Islands'. The soundtrack will be performed to film by live orchestra during the Archive Gala concert of the London Film Festival at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. On April 22, 2016, Dobson conducted the Parallax Orchestra accompanying
Bring Me the Horizon Bring Me the Horizon (often abbreviated as BMTH) are a British rock band formed in Sheffield in 2004. The group consists of lead vocalist Oliver Sykes, guitarist Lee Malia, bassist Matt Kean, drummer Matt Nicholls and keyboardist Jordan Fis ...
at the
Teenage Cancer Trust Teenage Cancer Trust is a cancer care and support charity in the UK that exists to improve the cancer experience of young people aged 13–24. Founded in 1990, the charity's key service is providing specialist teenage units in NHS hospitals. It ...
concerts 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 ...
in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. The show's overture ''At the Earth's Curve'' was entirely composed by Dobson, and the show marked the first time for Bring Me the Horizon to ever play live with an orchestra and choir. On October 2 and 3, 2017, Dobson also conducted the Parallax Orchestra who accompanied
Alter Bridge Alter Bridge is an American rock band from Orlando, Florida. The band was formed in 2004 by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Myles Kennedy, lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips. After their former band Cr ...
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 ...
in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. Besides conducting the orchestra, Dobson also contributed in creating orchestral arrangements for several of songs in the band catalog.


Awards

* 1997, Winner, Brass Section, Cornwall Young Composer Competition * 2002, Winner, European Composers' Competition, Brussels, Belgium * 2002, Newcomer of the Year, 4BarsRest * 2012, British Composer of the Year Award (Brass Band/Wind Band), BASCA * 2014, British Composer of the Year Award (Brass Band/Wind Band), BASCA


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobson, Simon 1981 births Living people 21st-century British conductors (music) 21st-century British male musicians Brass band composers British male conductors (music) English film score composers English male film score composers English conductors (music) Musicians from London Alumni of the Royal College of Music