Happy birthday Dr Trevor Jones from all of us at Music Exchange.
Thank you for what you do to inspire us all to be better and as you always say “Prepare or prepare to fail”.
Your humility and love for your art shines through and inspires us daily – THANK YOU Trevor.
In March 2019 the Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport (DCAS) hosted the annual Cultural Affairs Awards of the Western Cape at Artscape.
The celebration and recognition of the cultural, linguistic and heritage excellence in the province had the rare pleasure of an esteemed guest and rightful recipient of the Ministerial Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contribution to Film Composition, Dr Trevor Jones, presented by Min Marais. One would wish the City of Cape Town would do a similar thing and honour the great Doctor, so that the next generation of children could see all things are possible with hard work and drive.
Jones’ professional musical contribution began way back in 1970 and he has, over the past five decades, delivered a wealth of captivating compositions. Born and raised in District Six, Jones has quite simply and very actively influenced cinema and television soundtracks that have touched the lives of hundreds-of-millions of people.
Respected as one of the Top Five original music score composers in the world, Jones is responsible for scoring over 120 wide-ranging blockbuster film and television productions, including the likes of Notting Hill, Angel Heart, The Last of the Mohicans and In the Name of the Father.
Amongst a plethora of accolades, Jones has also had the pleasure of conducting the London Symphony orchestra, The London Philharmonic Orchestra, The Academy of St. Martins in the Fields, The RTVE Symphony Orchestra of Spain, The Greek National Radio Symphony Orchestra, and session orchestras in Los Angeles, New York, London and Paris in the recording of his soundtrack music.
Artists the calibre of the late David Bowie, Sting, U2, Sinead O’Connor, Charlotte Church, Britney Spears and Elvis Costello have all benefited from his mastery too.
Jones returned home in 2013 as the keynote speaker and guest at the Music Exchange (MEX) conference in Cape Town. And he has spoken and continued to mentor Music Exchange, ever since and for the last two years Marc Marot – former CEO of Island Records has come to SA with Trevor to speak at the conference and mentor. Some pics of the 2023 conference with Trevor and Marc:
On his 75th birthday, his work ethic and passion to play a role remains intact, most recently turning his hand to movie production as one of the executive producers and the score composer of the award-winning film To Tokyo.
As Jones was mentored in his youth and throughout his career, a great deal of his time has been dedicated to mentoring the likes of Academy award-winning composer Steve Price (Gravity), Italian film composer Dario Marianelli (Atonement, Pride & Prejudice, Darkest Hour) and music editor Neil Stemp (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Bohemian Rhapsody).
“My educational journey started with the help of a municipal bursary,” Jones recalls. “It continued with a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, and successive grants and awards to universities and film school. Without an education, my journey would not have begun.”
Playing it forward clearly remains a key focus for Jones, a commitment that has seen him more recently turning away traditional commissions in lieu of focusing on gifting his time and rich qualification with his younger peers.
“I know that our future survival lies in education and my old school taught me two adages,” he concludes. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and that knowledge is power. The reward of seeing either realised is supremely fulfilling.”
Martin Myers 
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