Englishby was born in Preston, Lancashire in 1970. He was musically active by his teenage years, performing as a pianist in big bands and jazz ensembles as well as writing and composing his own works.[1] He studied at Goldsmiths' College and at the Royal Academy of Music, where he received the Charles Lucas Prize for Composition and the Arthur Hervey Scholarship, as well as receiving a BBC Sound on Film Commission.[2]The Last Clarinet for orchestra and narrator was Englishby's first published work, and continues to be performed internationally. His other works include Short Symphony (1997), String Quartet (1995) and Blackpool Lights for Orchestra (1993). Aside from these Englishby composed pieces for his own group, The Paul Englishby Big Band, which has performed at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club.[1]
Scores and Compositions
In recent years, Englishby has written the original scores for a number of films and television programmes. In 2012 he won the Emmy Award for Best Original Main Title Theme Music for Page Eight, starring Bill Nighy and Rachel Weisz. He also received an Ivor Novello nomination.
Englishby is a prolific composer for the BBC, scoring all five series of the critically acclaimed drama Luther, starring Idris Elba, for which he received a BAFTA nomination. He has also scored two series of the hit series The Musketeers.[3]
As well as commissions for film and TV, he has composed classical works for various ensembles. His credits include The Last Clarinet for solo clarinet, orchestra and narrator in 1995, Byron for large orchestra and Weep No More for string orchestra.
Englishby also recently completed a large public arts commission entitled Fireworks, several pieces for choir, orchestra, chamber group and school children, in commemoration of the Combe Down Stone Mines Project in Bath.
In 2013, Englishby scored Peter Morgan's The Audience, starring Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II. The Audience, with Mirren, transferred to Broadway in 2015, with Kristin Scott Thomas taking up the role in the West End. In 2014, Englishby wrote the music for David Hare's Skylight, starring Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan, which also transferred to Broadway from the West End in 2015.
