Thomas Hewitt Jones
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{short description|British composer}}
File:Thomas Hewitt Jones Piano.jpg
Thomas Hewitt Jones (born 24 October 1984) is a British composer and music producer, working predominantly in the fields of contemporary classical and commercial music.
Thomas scored the music for the London 2012 Olympics Mascots animated films.{{cite web |url=https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/16870/london-2012-mascots-wenlock-and-mandeville-return-to-the-big-screen-for-final-time |title=Mascots Wenlock and Mandeville return to the big screen for the final time|date=12 May 2012 }}
On 11 July 2016, outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron was recorded humming four notes of an unidentified tune, which created an internet furore; on the following day, Thomas Hewitt Jones released the sheet music for a Fantasy on David Cameron: arranged for high/low solo instrument(s) and piano, which he made available for download from the Classic FM website.{{cite web|url=http://www.classicfm.com/discover/music/fantasy-on-david-cameron-humming/#Bwh2VbftXlre4q61.97|title=Now you can play David Cameron's humming tune yourself|date=13 July 2016|website=Classic FM|publisher=This is Global Ltd|access-date=13 July 2016|quote=|last1=Ross|first1=Daniel}}{{cite web|url=http://europe.newsweek.com/musicians-remix-david-camerons-downing-street-hum-479725|title=DAVID CAMERON'S DOWNING STREET HUM PROVES ONLINE HIT WITH MUSICIANS|date=12 July 2016|website=Newsweek|publisher=Newsweek Ltd|access-date=13 July 2016|quote=|last1=Perlman|first1=Elizabeth}}
On 26 July 2017, his Worcester Service (Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis) was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 from Worcester Cathedral.
Thomas's commercial track Funny Song {{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz8NSvmAaDw|title=Funny Song|website=YouTube }} went viral on the Tiktok platform in 2022. As of June 2025, it has 43 billion streams worldwide, has been used in 32 million YouTube Shorts, and is the second most played song on TikTok.{{Cite web |date=2025-06-30 |title=Slipstream and WexWorks Media Team Up to Commercialize Viral Hit “Funny Song,” Touting More than 42 Billion Social Media Views |url=https://licensinginternational.org/news/slipstream-and-wexworks-media-team-up-to-commercialize-viral-hit-funny-song-touting-more-than-42-billion-social-media-views/ |access-date=2025-07-02 |website=Licensing International |language=en-US}} The track is composed & performed (voice & piano) by Thomas, and published by Cavendish Music.
Early life
Thomas Hewitt Jones was born in 1984{{cite web |url=http://editionpeters.com/choral_jones |title=Thomas Hewitt Jones |last1= |first1= |last2= |first2= |date= 2014 |website=editionpeters.com |publisher=Peters Edition Ltd |access-date=14 July 2016 |quote=}} in Dulwich, South London, into a musical family; his parents are both musicians and his paternal grandparents were both composers.
Educated at Dulwich College, he went on to be the organ scholar at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.{{cite web|url=http://dulwichonview.org.uk/2011/04/08/life-of-a-dulwich-composer/|title=Life of a Dulwich Composer|date=8 April 2011|website=Dulwich OnView|publisher=|access-date=13 July 2016|quote=|last1=Coffey|first1=David}} He was the winner of the 2003 BBC Young Composer of the Year competition, and in 2009 received a BBC Music Magazine "Premiere Album" award for producing an album of the music of Imogen Holst.{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/artists/thomas-hewitt-jones/biography/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160606074820/http://www.mtv.com/artists/thomas-hewitt-jones/biography/|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 June 2016|title=About Thomas Hewitt Jones|last2=|first2=|date=|website=MTV|publisher=Viacom Media Networks|access-date=13 July 2016|quote=|last1=|first1=}}
Composer
On 18 May 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown, The Choir of Royal Holloway, University of London and soprano Laura Wright released a new single 'Can You Hear Me?', composed by Thomas with words by long-time collaborator Matt Harvey to raise awareness of mental health, encouraging those in need to seek support.{{cite web |url=https://signumrecords.com/product/can-you-hear-me-single/SIGCD817/|title=Can You Hear Me?}}
His Christmas carol Lullay, my Liking was recorded by British choir ORA Singers in 2017.
Key works
- 2006 - The Facebook song (composed together with Peter Foggitt{{cite web|url=https://www.peterfoggitt.com|title=Peter Foggitt official website}}){{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMlfJN4wt2Y|title=The Facebook song - Youtube|website=YouTube }}
- 2008 - The Forbidden Kingdom soundtrack (assistant to composer David Buckley){{cite web|url=https://gb.imdb.com/title/tt0865556/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ql_1|title=The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) - Full Cast & Crew|last2=|first2=|date=|website=|publisher=Internet Movie Database|access-date=13 July 2016|quote=|last1=|first1=}}
- 2008 - Under Milk Wood (for Ballet Cymru)
- 2008 - What Child is This?
- 2009 - How Green was my Valley (for Ballet Cymru)
- 2009 - Child of the Stable’s Secret Birth
- 2009 - Romance for viola and piano
- 2010 - Lady of the Lake (for Ballet Cymru)
- 2012 - London 2012 / LOCOG Mascot Animated Films (soundtracks)
- 2013 - Incarnation: A Suite of Songs for Christmas
- 2014 - Wildflower Meadows (for Arts for Rutland)
- 2015 - Panathenaia (for the British Museum){{cite web|url=http://www.thomashewittjones.com/biography/|title=Thomas Hewitt Jones - Biography|last2=|first2=|date=|website=|publisher=Thomas Hewitt Jones / Metronome Music Ltd|access-date=13 July 2016|quote=|last1=|first1=}}
- 2016 - Christmas Party (Christmas Violin Concerto){{cite web|url=http://signumrecords.com/catalogue/christmas/christmas-party/sigcd821.html|title=Christmas Party|last2=|first2=|date=|website=Signum Records|publisher=Thomas Hewitt Jones / Signum Records Ltd|access-date=15 November 2016|quote=|last1=|first1=}}
- 2017 - Worcester Service (Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis){{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08yrxxz |title=Choral Evensong from the Three Choirs Festival}}
- 2017 - Lullay, my Liking for ORA Singers, conducted by Suzi Digby
- 2018 - Electro Cello {{cite web |url=https://open.spotify.com/album/2av2OOugz34O6L9QEp5RlB |title=Electro Cello (EMI Juice)|website=Spotify }}
- 2019 - Neoclassical {{cite web |url=https://open.spotify.com/album/2ZsQo1MMi9qX0qLl19zQca |title=Neoclassical (EMI Juice)|website=Spotify }}
- 2021 - Cinematic Advertising {{cite web |url=https://open.spotify.com/album/2wei4mBF1Itd3Shks72Dcy |title=Cinematic Advertising (EMI Juice)|website=Spotify }}
- 2022 - In Our Service{{cite web |url=https://www.rscm.org.uk/get-involved/platinum-project/ |title=In Our Service: a commission from the Royal School of Church Music for the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II}}
Music producer
He produced This is the Day (2012) for the English composer John Rutter and his choir the Cambridge Singers and Aurora Orchestra.{{Cite web|url=https://johnrutter.com/product/this-is-the-day|title = This is the day}}
Personal life
Thomas scores production music from his own studio facility and lives in London with Annalisa, his wife, whom he married in 2020.{{cite web |url=http://www.thomashewittjones.com/biography |title=Thomas Hewitt Jones - Biography}}
References
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Category:21st-century British classical composers
Category:English classical composers
Category:People educated at Dulwich College
Category:Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
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