Debbie Wiseman facts for kids

Debbie Wiseman, who has been awarded the OBE, is a talented British composer. Born on May 10, 1963, she creates music for movies, television, and concert halls. She is also a conductor, leading orchestras, and a presenter on radio and TV.

About Debbie Wiseman

Debbie grew up in Belsize Park, a part of north west London. She went to the Henrietta Barnett School. From a young age, she studied music, learning piano and how to compose at the Trinity College of Music. She continued her studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Debbie is now a visiting professor at the Royal College of Music. This means she teaches and shares her musical knowledge with students there. In 2008, she composed a piece called Different Voices. The famous Royal Philharmonic Orchestra played it for the first time to celebrate their 60th birthday.

For her amazing contributions to music, Debbie has received several special honors. In 2004, she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). Later, in 2018, she was promoted to an Officer of the same Order (OBE). She also holds honorary degrees from Trinity College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 2015, the University of Sussex gave her a Doctor of Music degree. In 2020, she was awarded the Fellowship of the Royal College of Music.

Her Music for Film and TV

Debbie Wiseman has written music for many popular films and TV shows. This music, called a "score," helps tell the story and set the mood.

Movies with Debbie's Music

Some of the films she has scored include:

• Tom and Viv (1994) – This movie was nominated for two big awards!
• Wilde (1997) – Her music for this film was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award.
• Tom's Midnight Garden
• Arsène Lupin (2004) – She won an award for the best score for a foreign language film.
• Flood (2007)
• Lesbian Vampire Killers (2009)

TV Shows with Debbie's Music

Debbie has also composed music for many TV series, such as:

• Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators (2018)
• Dickensian (2015)
• Wolf Hall (2015) – Her music for this show was very popular and won awards.
• Lost Christmas (2013) – This show won an Emmy Award!
• Jekyll
• The Promise (2011) – This series was nominated for a BAFTA Award.
• Warriors (2000) – Her score won a RTS Award.
• Father Brown
• The Coroner
• Land Girls (2010)
• Stephen Fry in America
• Othello (2001)
• Feather Boy (2004) – This children's drama won a BAFTA Award.
• Stig of the Dump (2002) – This show also won an Emmy Award!

Highlights of Her Career

2000s

In 2003, Debbie's album Wilde Stories was nominated for a Grammy Award, which is a very big honor in music. The music from this album was used in animated films for Channel 4. Debbie even conducted the National Symphony Orchestra live while two of these films were shown!

In 2007, she received the Gold Badge of Merit from the British Academy of Composers & Songwriters. In 2008, she created the CD Different Voices with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Famous people like Stephen Fry narrated, and singer Hayley Westenra performed vocals.

2010s

In 2010, listeners of Classic FM voted her score for the movie Wilde as one of the top movie scores. It reached number 12 on their chart!

Debbie has also presented radio and TV programs. In 2011, she presented a Radio 4 show about composer Joseph Horowitz. She also appeared on a special Christmas episode of Your Desert Island Discs. Since 2011, Debbie has released her own albums. Her first solo album, Piano Stories, reached number 10 on the UK Classical Artist Album Chart.

She presented a Channel 4 series called Backtracks, which explored how music is used in films and TV. In 2013, she presented Scoring Father Brown for Radio 4. This program showed how she composed music for the BBC drama series.

In 2015, Debbie wrote the main theme and other music for the BBC1 drama The Coroner. Her original music for the BBC series Wolf Hall became very popular, reaching number 1 on the UK's Classic FM chart. It also won awards for Best Composer.

Debbie is the Composer in Residence for Classic FM. Her album The Musical Zodiac, which was created for Classic FM, reached number 2 on the UK Classical Chart in 2016. She also composed the soundtrack for the 2017 film Edie. Debbie has even composed music for Viking Cruises and was honored as the Godmother to one of their new river ships!

In 2018, her second album for Classic FM, The Glorious Garden, was released. This album, a collaboration with Alan Titchmarsh, topped the UK Classical Chart for three weeks.

2020s

Debbie's album The Mythos Suite, created with Stephen Fry, reached number 1 on the UK classical charts in February 2020.

In June 2021, her album The Music of Kings and Queens celebrated the Queen's 95th birthday. It featured narration by famous actors Helen Mirren and Damian Lewis and also went to number 1 on the UK Classical charts.

In 2022, Debbie was voted the most popular living composer in the Classic FM Hall of Fame. Seven of her works were in the top chart, with The Glorious Garden reaching its highest position ever at number 4.

Debbie was the official composer and musical director for the Platinum Jubilee Celebration at Windsor in May 2022. Later that year, a special piece she composed and conducted, Elizabeth Remembered, was used by the BBC as the theme music for the coverage of the late Queen's funeral. She shared that this music was recorded in secret five years earlier, showing great respect for the Queen.

In 2023, she composed a new setting of the Alleluia for the coronation of Charles III and Camilla. Also in 2023, Debbie released "Signature", an album of her most popular works performed live. This album went straight to number 1 on the UK Classical Chart when it was released on June 30, 2023.