Paul's musical journey began in the early 1970s with a formal education in piano, leading eventually to writing and performing original music, initially within rock and pop bands. In 1983 his band Sense secured an international recording and publishing deal. European tours with Depeche Mode and Kim Wilde followed, culminating in 1986 with the album Hold On and the French hit single Jamie.
In 1989, Paul began to concentrate on writing music for television and film while studying piano and composition in greater depth. He has since written music for numerous television dramas, documentaries and series, composing to picture in his own digital recording facility. He regularly conducts choirs, chamber groups, orchestras and session musicians and is a patron of the Nottingham Choral Trust.
Paul’s new musical version of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen received its debut at the Barbican Hall, London on 16th December 2003. The sell-out concert was a great success; Sam Marlowe wrote in The Times:
At this semi-staged concert performance — its world premiere — a huge screen showed video images of the sunlit woods and meadows of Kay and Gerda’s home, of snowy peaks, frozen wastes and dark skies filled with stars or roiling storm clouds......These visuals perfectly matched Joyce’s music — swooping minor-key strings and voices, and simple, affecting songs of “A boy and a girl/ An ordinary world/ Of secret dreams and make-believe”
... the piece has enormous charm and this performance was hard to resist. On a stage flooded with lilac light the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Ian Hughes, played with gusto and the London Voices and Burntwood School Girls’ Choir, singing, shining-eyed, for all they were worth, were uplifting.
The Snow Queen CD on BMG records is due for Europe-wide release in autumn 2004 and a series of concerts is planned for Cadogan Hall, London in December 2004.
The Snow Queen is now a one-hour BBC television special. Starring Juliet Stevenson and with the voice of Patrick Stewart the story is brought to life with live-action and stunning animation whilst Paul’s songs and music interweaved with the dialogue. Paul was both composer and executive producer on the film. The original recording is available as a Sony BMG CD.
The Snow Queen BBC The Worst Witch Series I-IV ITV (RTS/BAFTA nominated) Knight School ITV (RTS nominated) Mud Series I-III BBC Coping with... CH4 (BAFTA award winner) The Burning Girl Time Warner
Projects:
Frankenstein - The Creation CD for choir, orchestra and
narrator Quatermass And The Pit CD - Outdoor hypertheatre
Series:
Fimbles BBC Smile BBC Mouse ITV Diggit Disney Wake Up In The Wild Room Disney Parallel 9 Series I&II BBC Wolf It Series I-III ITV
Animation:
Bob The Builder Series I-IX BBC Noddy Series I-IV BBC Budgie The Little Helicopter ITV Bob The Builder Christmas Special BBC (BAFTA award winner) Bob The Builder Winter Special BBC Bob The Builder Spring Special BBC
Documentaries:
South Of The River CH4 The Great Dinosaur Trail ITV
Pop:
Can We Fix It Bob the Builder (single)
The best selling UK single of 2000 with sales exceeding one million Jamie Sense (single) Hold On Sense (single) 3 Minutes Later Sense (single) Reasons For Living Sense (single)
Hold On Sense (album) All Systems Gone Presence (album)
