Dan Jones
Dan Jones works as a sound designer and composer for theatre, film and television.
He has worked extensively for many of the major theatre companies in the UK including work at the National Theatre and RSC, Donmar and Almeida, Bristol Old Vic, WYP and Citizens Glasgow. His pieces at the NT include Antigone, Treasure Island, The Kitchen, Damned for Despair and Greenland. Other productions include the Olivier-nominated Ivan and the Dogs (Soho Theatre) and The Nightwatch (Royal Exchange) both by Sound and Fury collaborator Hattie Naylor.
He co-founded Sound and Fury Theatre company with Mark and Tom Espiner in 1998 as a way to explore the use of immersive sound in the creation of theatre and went on to co-direct and sound design their productions, including War Music, Kursk, Going Dark, Ether Frolics and Charlie Ward to critical acclaim.
He has also accrued an extensive list of composing credits for the screen and received two of the three 2018 Ivor Novello Award nominations for Best Television Music for his scores for the BBC’s SS-GB and The Miniaturist, with the latter winning the award.
His music for cinema includes the Oscar-nominated feature documentary Bobi Wine: The People’s President, the Oscar-nominated Shadow of the Vampire (starring John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe), Max (Ivor Novello award Best Film score) and The Tonto Woman (Academy Award nomination Best Short). He created the sound design and music for Will Oldroyd’s debut feature, Lady Macbeth, which was BAFTA nominated for Best British Film in 2017 and was nominated as Best Discovery at the World Soundtrack Awards. His score for cinema adaptation of On Chesil Beach, by Ian McEwan is available on Decca Records.
His music for television includes The Hollow Crown (dir. Dominic Cooke), The Outlaws (Ivor Novello Award nomination Best Television Soundtrack) Appropriate Adult (ITV), The Lost Honour of Christopher Jeffries (BAFTA Best Drama), SS-GB (Royal Television Society Nomination Best Title Music), The Miniaturist (Ivor Novello Best Television Soundtrack), The Replacement (BAFTA Scotland Best Drama) and Any Human Heart (BAFTA and Ivor Novello Awards for Best Music, BAFTA Best Drama).
In addition to this work Dan also produces sound design for art works and large scale public events, including his role as Head of Sound for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. In 2024 his outdoor multichannel surround sound installation for Risham Syed’s Each Tiny Drop - part of the Manchester International Festival - was awarded Best Sound Art at the Ivors Classical Awards. He oversaw the sound design and composed music for Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations for three years running since its relaunch in 2017-18. For the firework displays he has composed music and collaborated with Celtic Band Niteworks (2017-18) and German techno marching band Meute (2018-19). He was the supervising sound designer for Hull 2017 City of Culture’s launch event, a sound-led tour covering the city centre and attracting some 310,000 visitors in one week. In 2015 he was invited to create a panoramic sound design around Birmingham Cathedral to celebrate its 400th anniversary. He has also scored the UK torch lighting ceremonies for both the Sochi and Rio de Janeiro Paralympics.
Current work includes Luke Jerram’s celestial artworks Museum of the Moon, Gaia and Mars, which continue to tour globally. Previous work with Jerram includes Sky Orchestra which formed part of the RSC’s Complete Works Festival and opened the Sydney Festival in 2007. His sound work also formed part of Daphne’s Wright’s exhibition on Freud, The Ethics of Scrutiny, at IMMA Dublin and was listed by the Guardian as one of the top 20 Art attractions to see in Europe.