Ollie Jones - Frozen in Time: Vol.1

Ollie Jones ARSM (piano), ARSM (cello) is a 19 year old contemporary composer, cellist and pianist, and aspiring musical director for musical theatre from the southwest of England, UK

Beginnings
Ollie has a passion for music, and has done for a long time. His first album, Images, was composed when he was 14 years old, living under the shadow of juvenile, seronegative arthritis, in his own private lockdown before the COVID-19 pandemic, unable to move without pain, confined to the house, and doing exams from home. Images comprises the pieces composed during the lead up to a total hip replacement operation in October 2019, and the recovery period thereafter, the ups and downs of his life clearly audible in the passionate fast-flowing lines of the minimalist compositions which are his hallmark. He was a music scholar at Truro School in Cornwall, UK, and this is evident in his expeditious start to professional music!

Since those early days, Ollie has gained national and international recognition from the likes of BBC Sounds, BBC music introducing and local and national radio stations (BBC Radio stations in the southwest of England, Radio 5, Radio 4 and Radio 3), as well as Ditto Music, his music distribution service.

In amongst composing is his love for musical direction for musical theatre. He has been involved in numerous productions, in numerous roles on the creative team, ranging from Intern to Musical Director, on productions such as "Les Misérables" (Associate MD,  2022), "Annie Jr." (MD, 2023) and "Beauty and the Beast" (MD, 2024). He has had rehearsal experience with "The Lion King" in London (2024) as rehearsal pianist. He will be going on to study music at Kings College London in September.

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Influences and style
Minimalism and contemporary classical music are his passion, but they are not just classical genres. These genres are unique, as seen in Ollie's inspirations - Hans Zimmer and Ludovico Einaudi to name a couple. These genres are influenced by folk and rock, hip hop, jazz and new age showcasing the breadth and versatility of them. This music is the backdrop to period dramas - atmospheric, moving and memorable, which is what Ollie wants to achieve with his music.

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Further Releases
Two further albums “Flight” and “The Cellist” were written and recorded by Ollie himself during the Covid lockdown of 2020, in between school work and exam revision. Listen to snippets or go to your favourite streaming platform to be transported into a blissfull world!

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New Releases - "Frozen in Time" 
His biggest album yet "Frozen in Time" was released on Christmas Day 2023.

"The premise for this album was a technique I have learnt called "frozen improvisation": I almost stopped listening when someone tried to explain this to me, but eventually I found it very useful! You start with improvising a 2-3 minute track. Each time you play this track again, you can improvise further, adding a layer of depth to the song. Each track in this first volume is therefore improvised; I sat down, hit record and started playing whatever came to me. It is a great way to batch-produce tracks when you're short on time!"

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Musical Direction for Musical Theatre
Ollie is an aspiring MD for Musical Theatre, and has been MDing and assisting on different shows in Cornwall. He also is continuing to work with "The Lion King" in the West End as a rehearsal pianist, and he hopes to continue this as whilst studying music there at Kings College London.