William Jones

William Malcolm Jones was born in the South Wales valleys in Neath in 1951, into a household of ‘cymanfa ganu’ singers, brass band players and conductors and a large collection of classical music on his gran’s old 78 rpm record player. William grew up steeped in Brass Band music and at 15, he gained entry into the Junior Musicians wing of the Guards Division, from where he went on to The Royal Military School of Music Kneller Hall and rose to become principal euphonium in Her Majesty’s Welsh Guards. The following years of military ceremonial duties, prestigious concerts at home and on tour abroad in Europe and the United States, as well as multiple appearances on TV shows with star singers such as Tom Jones, gave William an insider’s understanding of the demands and possibilities of wind band performance and range of styles.

After leaving the army, William taught brass in schools and freelanced as a jazz trombonist with the Ray Shields Orchestra, Herb Miller orchestra and his own Jazz Big Bands Tuxedo Junction and The Liberty Big Band. At the same time, William continued to teach, to play in and conduct Brass Bands, to do arrangements for bands and choir and to write soundtracks for several short independent animated films. 

William was also the co-instigator (with col. Tim Van Rees) and first bandmaster of the Powys Army Cadet Force Band, which led to the formation of the Army Cadet Music Service. William studied composition under Arthur Butterworth and Darryl Barry, gaining a BA in Band Studies from Sheffield University and after a cancer and chemotherapy that left William unable to play again, he turned his full time attention to composing. William is a narrative composer, enjoying textural layers of sound and writes for orchestra, wind band and brass band. He has had original compositions and arrangements published across a range of genres, from spiritual and contemplative, to action-adventure, from celebratory fanfares to dramatic or horror-driven pieces, as well as gentle romantic works for soloists, such as Leonie, for baritone and brass band, written in honour of his wife. William brings the breadth and depth of his playing experience to the music he writes, along with a love of story and of his roots in Wales.