Joseph Davies

Joseph Davies is a Cardiff-born composer who has been hailed as ‘one of the brightest of rising stars’ (Bernard Clarke, RTÉ) whose music, described as ‘extraordinarily vivid and exuberant’ (Ivan Hewitt, BBC Radio 3) has been performed and broadcast throughout Europe and the USA.

Commissions range from virtuosic chamber-size works for some of the most gifted musicians of his generation to large-scale works for ensembles including several pieces for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. In 2016 he collaborated with former Archbishop of Canterbury and poet Rowan Williams on song cycle The Shortest Day to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster, and he has arranged albums for pop musicians Meilyr Jones and Baxter Dury. In 2017 Joseph’s wind orchestra piece Anemoi was nominated for a BASCA British Composer Award and he was awarded the Sir Geraint Evans Prize by the Welsh Music Guild. Recent projects include a violin concerto Parallax for BBC NOW and soloist Daniel Pioro and Collider for the UPROAR Ensemble which toured in early 2022. He is published by Birdsong Music, with selected works published by Chester Music. He lives in London.

Joseph has been a lecturer in composition at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama since 2013. In 2019-20 he was the lead composer for Tŷ Cerdd’s ‘CoDI Text’ scheme, mentoring six composers alongside writer Kaite O’Reilly. He has taught composition, music theory and piano at schools and privately since 2010.

• Violin Concerto Parallax premiered by Daniel Pioro and BBC NOW (2022)
• Lead composer for Tŷ Cerdd’s ‘CoDI Text’ scheme (2020)
• Anemoi nominated for BASCA British Composer Award (2017)
• Awarded the Sir Geraint Evans Prize by the Welsh Music Guild (2017)
• Meilyr Jones album 2013 awarded the Welsh Music Prize (2016)
• The Shortest Day to texts by Rowan Williams marks the 50th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster (2016)
• Echoes premiered in New Orleans by Jeremy Huw Williams and toured around USA (2015)
• Intricate Images premiered by Catrin Finch and Steffan Morris marking Dylan Thomas's centenary at the Swansea Festival (2014)
• Byzantium toured around Germany by NYOW (2013)

Listen to Joseph’s SoundCloud.