About Patrick
Patrick Jonathan is a refreshingly melodic modern performed composer.
Here he writes about his most recent Symphony - Symphony No2 "DEBS", which was premiered by Musica Nova in Arizona, USA on 28th Jan 2007.
The inspiration for this came from many places, but particularly his family. Each movement is based on the personality of his immediate family - his wife Debbie, daughter Leela, and sons Rohan and Kiran...
As part of the premiere of his second symphony, Patrick participated in a panel based question and answer session with the audience. This was not only an insight into his symphony, but the general style and vision behind all his music.
He is particularly versatile, in that he has written many types of music, ranging from pop songs, musicals, concertos, film scores and of course 2 symphonies.
Patrick's score for “Little Violet and the Angel” was nominated for the BOH Cameronian Award-the Malaysian equivalent of a Tony Award, in 2004. http://www.gardnerandwife.com/04_violet_2.asp
Patrick is particularly aware that his life experiences have not just moulded him, but also the sources of inspiration and experience he can call upon when writing music.
Like any gifted artist, he draws on life's experiences as well as the sounds and melodies that come to him in his imagination - yes he hears sounds in his head - but his are wonderful! He is driven to put this inspiration down on paper ( or computer these days ), as much for his own satisfaction as particularly to have it performed and listened to by others. But this does not detract from the melodic nature of his work. Although he appreciates the skill and art of modern composers, when writing his symphonic works, he also is strongly driven that music should be tuneful in its essence and have a satisfying harmonic basis as well as a technically accomplished symphonic structure. This combination has brought him significant acclaim from his recent premiere...
The acclaimed British composer Tony Arnell has been the major influence on Patrick's musical life. Patrick calls Tony "his mentor" and is always keen to talk about Tony and Tony's work as much as his own!
Patrick is an ardent Manchester United football fan. His wife Debbie has to put up with a picture of the Manchester United legend George Best in their bedroom!
Patrick's Musical CV
Patrick Jonathan is a Londoner born and bred. For three years he attended the Corona Academy of the Dramatic Arts in Chiswick, where he was given a solid grounding in many styles of dancing, acting and singing. During this time he had a number of small roles in films, television programmes and commercials, including the Oscar winning Musical, Fiddler on the Roof, and Tommy Steele’s Tribute to Charlie Chaplin.
As a pupil at Wandsworth School he sang in concert, on television, and on record with the renowned choir while studying piano at the Guildhall School of Music. He obtained a BMus (hons) degree from Goldsmiths’ College, London University, where he studied under Stanley Glasser and Edward Gregson. He also studied the mechanics of Film Scoring at two Summer Schools conducted by Don Ray, Music Supervisor, CBS Television, Hollywood - the composer of scores for Hawaii 5-0, Gilligan’s Island and other successful series - and informally with Richard Arnell at the London International Film School, where he contributed scores for more than a dozen short films.
Patrick has worked as a restaurant pianist, studio musician, and band member of several bands - Goodstuff, Tender Loving Care - in the London area, and also as a freelance music copyist, editor and proof reader. For 4 years he was the manager of the Orchestral Hire Department of the publishers Schott & Co., London, where he oversaw the copying, editing, production and hiring of all contemporary compositions, including the final opera, New Year, of Sir Michael Tippett.
Patrick qualified as a primary school teacher in 1991, and since that time has drawn on his experience as a composer of more than a thousand pop songs, as well as concert items such as symphonies, piano concertos, string quartets and sonatas to compose a number of stage musicals for performance by children. More recently has branched out into composing musical theatre pieces for adults, many of which have been performed to considerable popular and critical acclaim.
As a part-time lecturer in Musical Theatre at UiTM in Shah Alam, Malaysia, Patrick set himself the challenge of producing an original piece of music theatre each semester, tailored to the needs of the students he was teaching. The fruits of this enterprise include Hair Dos and Don’ts, for four female characters, set in a Beauty Salon, and bowled.over?, for thirteen female and one male character, set in the competitive world of women’s league tenpin bowling.
For the Actors Studio, K.L., Patrick has devised and presented In the Spotlight, a series of courses aimed at giving children aged 6-12 a solid grounding in the skills required for performing in musical theatre. From these courses, three productions, Generation 20/20, Reading’s the Key and Father Christmas: Super Sleuth have been presented on the stage of the Bangsar theatre with considerable success. He also contributed a monthly column on developing children’s performance skills for Living Arts Malaysia magazine.
In 2004 Patrick was nominated for a Boh/Cameronian Award for the original music he composed for Little Violet and the Angel, a production he also appeared in.
As well as conducting performance-based corporate training days and working weekly, for a year, on music and movement skills with the children of Kiwanis, Taman Tun, Patrick has composed music for film, video and radio, and worked as a musical advisor and project consultant for Malaysian performers such as Sean Ghazi and Kenneth Paul.
Of late, Patrick has been concentrating his creative energy on composing large-scale concert works. His 45 minute Second Symphony received its world premiere in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA on 28th January 2007.
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