David Lowe (television and radio composer)

David Lowe is a British composer, focusing primarily on music for television and radio, including all the current themes for BBC News. His first television composition was the 1983 title music for BBC Midlands Today, followed in 1988 by BBC Wales Today and he went back to BBC Birmingham and Midlands Today again in 1992, creating title music for both Midlands Today and Pebble Mill.

Lowe's work on other British television programmes includes The One Show, Panorama, Wildlife on One and The Really Wild Show (all on BBC One), Grand Designs on Channel 4, and the Channel 5 motoring programme Fifth Gear. He has also created musical identities for the Al Arabiya Channel and Abu Dhabi TV in the Middle East, NDTV in India and TV2 in Norway. For radio he produced the current identity for the BBC World Service.

History

In 1997, Lowe released his debut album, Dreamcatcher. He performed a live mix that year at the first Thames River Festival, which accompanied a record breaking tightrope walk across the river.

His single "Would You...?" under the name Touch and Go was a top 3 hit in the UK in 1998 and a hit in the rest of Europe in early 1999. The album I've Noticed You Around spawned more hit singles in Eastern Europe and Russia. "Straight...to Number One" was chosen by Apple to launch the iTunes site in the USA, where every track on the album has been used in films, television and/or commercials.

In 1999, Lowe created probably his most famous compositions, the current BBC News themes. Whilst previous themes had been orchestral, these new themes made extensive use of the 'pips' that are used on the hour on BBC Radio stations, along with more electric sounds. Since 1999 his themes have been remixed numerous times for BBC News in the UK as well as the international BBC News station BBC World News. Two CDs of Lowe's music have been released by the BBC. BBC World: The Music is a compilation of some of Lowe's work for BBC World, made available after significant demand from viewers. Wild Caribbean features the best of Lowe's music from the BBC2 series of the same name, and remixes of his Touch and Go tracks "So Hot" and "Life's a Beach".

Through his website, Lowe has released compilations of some of his television soundtracks. TV Chill is a mix from a variety of different programmes, whilst Grand Designs features a full length arrangement of the main theme, and other music from the Channel 4 series. Both were produced after interest from viewers, including a request from one to have the Grand Designs music played at her wedding. Lowe also co-produced an album for poet Roger McGough. Between excerpts of McGough's live performance, he set some of the poetry to music.

Lowe was invited by the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters to compose the theme for the 50th Ivor Novello Awards ceremony in 2005. In 2006 he was commissioned to write the music for the BAFTA Film and Television Awards and for the BBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics.

He has performed at several WOMAD festivals worldwide. In 2004, he was commissioned to provide a music soundscape for The Tropical Biome at the Eden Project, which was performed at WOMAD Reading in 2005. Reinforced with several new songs, the material has been reworked to form his second Dreamcatcher album, What...is in Between?, released on Oval Records in October 2006. Featured vocalists are poet and novelist Benjamin Zephaniah and Japanese artist and composer Mieko Shimizu, while Lowe himself sings on "Still The Greatest."

David Lowe is a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters. in 2005 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Staffordshire University.

External links

• David Lowe's website
• David Lowe's 2007 Interview with a Chinese Blogger(Original English & Translated Chinese Versions)
• David Lowe discography at MusicBrainz

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