Jules Buckley
Jules Buckley (born 8 January 1980)[1] is an English conductor, composer, and arranger.
Jules Buckley
8 January 1980
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England
- Eclectic
- classical
- folk
- jazz
- film score
- Arranger
- conductor
- composer
Career[edit]
In 2004, Buckley and producer/manager Chris Wheeler co-founded the Heritage Orchestra, with the intention of featuring an orchestra in a music club setting. In 2008, Buckley became principal guest conductor of the Metropole Orkest, a jazz and eclectic music orchestra based in Hilversum, and chief conductor from 2013. In 2020, he became Creative Artist-in-Residence with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and stood in as presenter of the BBC Radio 3 programme Classical Fix, in place of Clemency Burton-Hill,[2] who suffered a brain haemorrhage in January 2020.[3]
Collaborations[edit]
Buckley has worked with the WDR Big Band; José James and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; Patrick Watson and the Orchestre National d'Île de France; and arranged and conducted Caro Emerald's album The Shocking Miss Emerald and Jacob Collier's album Djesse Vol. 1. Other collaborations have included projects with Gregory Porter; Tori Amos; Markus Stockhausen; Michael Kiwanuka; Jonathan Jeremiah; Basement Jaxx; Massive Attack; Arctic Monkeys; John Cale; Paul Weller; Emeli Sandé; The Cinematic Orchestra; Jamie Cullum; Beardyman; Cory Henry ; Snarky Puppy; Becca Stevens; Andrea Motis and Dizzee Rascal.
Awards[edit]
In February 2016, the Snarky Puppy album Sylva, featuring Buckley and the Metropole Orkest, won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.[4] At the end of 2016, Classic House with Pete Tong and the Heritage Orchestra reached No. 1 in the Album Charts. In 2020, the song "All night long" by Jacob Collier, featuring Take 6 and the Metropole Orkest, won an award for the "Best arrangement, instrumental and vocal" at the 62nd Grammy Awards.[4]
In 2018, Buckley and Metropole Orkest were awarded the Bremer Musikfest-Preis in special recognition of their contribution to the success of Musikfest Bremen.
Personal life[edit]
Buckley was born and grew up in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire in the UK.[7] He is the son of Keith Buckley (a doctor) and Joan Buckley, and attended Aylesbury Grammar School. Buckley started playing the trumpet aged 9 at the Aylesbury Music Centre.[8] He played in the Aylesbury Music Centre Dance Band and went on to study trumpet at the Guildhall School of Music in London before changing to classical composition.[9] His initial ambition was to be a jazz trumpeter, but at the Guildhall School his interests grew to include musical composition and conducting. He now lives in Berlin, Germany.