Paul Kevin Joyce (born July 1957) is a British composer, producer,

orchestrator Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

, arranger and conductor. He is known for his music for theatre and television, including the 2005 BBC TV film ''The Snow Queen'' and the 2008 British TV film ''

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

''. He wrote " Can We Fix It?", the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

to the

children's television program Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

me ''

Bob the Builder ''Bob the Builder'' is a British animated children's television series created by Keith Chapman for HIT Entertainment and Hot Animation. The series follows the adventures of Bob, a building contractor, specialising in masonry, along with ...

'' that became the bestselling single of 2000 in the UK and Australia.

Early life

He attended Hall Park Technical Grammar School in

Eastwood, Nottinghamshire Eastwood is a former coal mining town in the Broxtowe district of Nottinghamshire, England, northwest of Nottingham and northeast of Derby on the border between Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Mentioned in Domesday Book, it expanded rapidly ...

, where he was head boy in 1975. From

Trent Polytechnic Trent may refer to: Places Italy * Trento in northern Italy, site of the Council of Trent United Kingdom * Trent, Dorset, England, United Kingdom Germany * Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen United States * Trent, California ...

, he gained a BSc in Applied Biology.

Career

Earlier in his career, Joyce was a member of synthpop trio Sense, produced by

Soft Cell Soft Cell are an English synthpop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s. The duo consists of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. The band are primarily known for their 1981 hit version of "Tainted Love" and their pla ...

's Dave Ball. Following tours with Depeche Mode and Kim Wilde, they had a

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

in France with their

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, "Jamie". The band released their only album, ''Hold On'', in 1983. His first television work was the animation ''Coconuts'' (ITV 1990). He has since written music for numerous TV series and films including: '' Noddy's Toyland Adventures'' (BBC TV 1992-99), ''

The Worst Witch ''The Worst Witch'' is a series of children's books written and illustrated by Jill Murphy. The series are primarily about a girl who attends a witch school and fantasy stories, with eight books published. The first, ''The Worst Witch'', was ...

'' (ITV 1998-2000), ''

The Snow Queen "The Snow Queen" ( da, Snedronningen) is an original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in '' New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection'' (''Nye Eventyr. Første Bind. Anden Samli ...

'' (BBC 2005), ''

Philbert Frog ''Philbert Frog'' is a British children's animated television series made by Fat City Films and produced by Heather Pedley and Philbert Frog Ltd. Created by Vincent James, it was first shown on the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going ...

'' (BBC 1993), ''

'' (BBC film 2008), ''

Diggit The following details are for the programmes that GMTV (Good Morning Television) broadcast on ITV. GMTV is the former breakfast television franchise for the UK's ITV network. It began broadcasting on Friday 1 January 1993 and finished on Frida ...

'' (ITV 1998-2001), '' Knight School'' (CITV 1997-1998), ''Slim Pig'' (CITV 1996) and ''

Fimbles ''Fimbles'' is a British children's television series created and produced by Novel Entertainment. The series has 200 episodes, airing from 2002 to 2004 with repeats of the series airing until early 2012 on CBeebies. The Fimbles are Fimbo, Florri ...

'' (BBC 2002-2005). His theme song for ''

'' (" Can We Fix It?") became a hit single and sold more than a million copies in the UK, for which Joyce received an

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been ...

on 24 May 2001. Joyce also composes for theatre, notably for a staging of '' Quatermass and the Pit'' in a UK quarry in 1997. Joyce has staged his

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...

version of Hans Christian Andersen's ''The Snow Queen'' at London's

Barbican Hall The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhib ...

(2003), Cadogan Hall (2004), and the

Hall for Cornwall Hall for Cornwall, known as Truro City Hall until 1997, is an events venue in Boscawen Street in Truro, Cornwall, England. The building, which was previously the headquarters of Truro City Council, is a Grade II* listed building. History The f ...

(2011). A dramatized television production of ''The Snow Queen'' featuring Joyce's music was commissioned by the BBC; it premiered on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

on Christmas Day in 2005 and proved to be the most popular children's show of the year. He collaborated with

Steve Howe Stephen James Howe (born 8 April 1947) is an English musician, best known as the guitarist in the progressive rock band Yes across three stints since 1970. Born in Holloway, North London, Howe developed an interest in the guitar and began to le ...

on Howe's solo album ''Time'', released November 2011 on

Warner Classics Warner Classics is the classical music arm of Warner Music Group. The label began issuing new recordings under the Warner Classics banner in 1991. The company also includes the Erato Records, Teldec Records and NVC Arts labels. Based in France, ...

. Joyce co-executive produced a feature film script based on '' Non-Stop'', the

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

novel by

Brian Aldiss Brian Wilson Aldiss (; 18 August 1925 – 19 August 2017) was an English writer, artist, and anthology editor, best known for science fiction novels and short stories. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss, except for o ...

. He developed an adaptation of the life story of war correspondent,

Clare Hollingworth Clare Hollingworth (10 October 1911 – 10 January 2017) was an English journalist and author. She was the first war correspondent to report the outbreak of World War II, described as "the scoop of the century". As a rookie reporter for ''The ...

, known for scooping the beginning of the Second World War in 1939. In 2019, Joyce premiered a new contemporary orchestral work, ''Celestial'', of songs and music featuring the poems of the late Johnnie Douglas-Pennant. ''Celestial'' is narrated by actor

Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen OBE (born 5 February 1969) is a Welsh actor, television producer and political activist. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage rol ...

and features Steve Howe on guitar and soundscapes by Chris Watson. In 2020, Howe asked Joyce to contribute orchestrations to a new Yes album, '' The Quest''. A 2021 commission from the British Medical Association to compose a work to honour all health care workers who died during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

resulted i
"We Will Remember, We Can't Forget"
featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Burntwood School Chamber Choir and soloists. Joyce was a guest speaker at the Soundsgate Composers' Summit in Prague in April 2022 and, in May, is currently recording with th
FAMES orchestra
in Skopje.

References

External links

PKJ Music Ltd

Steve Howe - TIME
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joyce, Paul K. 1957 births Living people Alumni of Nottingham Trent University British songwriters British record producers Musicians from Nottinghamshire People from Eastwood, Nottinghamshire