Jon Hargreaves

Black and white photograph of a lunar crater

Immense Bleak Electric Advertisement of God (2024)

(From left) Malcolm Lindsay, Blythe Duff and Yvonne Lyon stand facing the camera at a long table covered in a white tablecloth. They are busy holding, exploring or playing with various pieces of audio equipment spread over the table. Photo credit: Melanie Sims

Lacunas Music Society (2024)

Mi’kmaw performance and installation artist, Ursula Johnson in rehearsal, playing a drum.

Tomnasimk: Carrying the Burden Together (2024)

Album cover for Screens (Octandre Ensemble, conductor Jon Hargreaves, composer Frank Denyer)

Screens (2023)

Gig poster for World of My Own, Chris Helme and Jon Hargreaves

World of My Own (2024)

Matt Dibble: 24 Preludes and Fugues (2024)

RSNO: Raising Voices (2024)

The Sad Club (2024)

Beeswing (2024)

The words "Still I Rise" in blue brushstrokes with a matching bird, on a watercolour cloud background.

Still I Rise (2024)

Album cover. A closeup of an astronaut's helmet with a planet and stars in the background. The visor shows a reflection of a sunrise over a mountain.

Sunrise 545 (2024)

The Harpweaver (2024)

Cover art for Cambridge Companion to Composition

Sonorities and Spectra (2024)

Etching of Peppe Nappa. By Maurice Sands.

Pierrot Lunaire (2023)

Photograph of Jon Hargreaves and five young composers in a recording studio

RSNO Film Composer Lab (2022/23)

RSNO Film Composers Lab (2023/24)

Singer Alan Leach, a white man with short hair, dressed in a black tracksuit with stripes, and wearing sneakers with the laces undone. He is crouched on his heels, hugging his knees leaning against an urban brick wall under lamplight.

Clouds behind the Moon (2022)

The Summer has Flown (2022)

5 Views of the Path (2022)

Sleep Now (2022)

Each One Cancels The Last (Hector) (2022)

Burial at sea - a painting by JMW Turner. A fire aboard a dark ship sees the beginning of its demise.

The Shipwrecker’s Lantern (2020-22)

Cover art for Martha Bean and Jon Hargreaves' album "First Light". A painting of a bed with rumpled sheets against a plain wall. The image is saturated with peachy morning sunlight.

First Light (2022)

Closeup of African-Canadian hip-hop artist Keonte Beals. He stands in a rural setting, with snow swirling. He wears a brown puffy vest over a black jumper, with a black beanie, and has a clippered beard and moustache. He looks slightly towards the left frame of the photo.

Let Go (2021)

Album cover art ofr Ainsley Hamill's album "Not Just Ship Land". A coloured pen drawing of a woman resting her head on her forearm on the lower frame. Her multi-coloured hair comes out in swirls and fills the rest of the image.

Not Just Ship Land (2021)

Conductor Jon Hargreaves, composer Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian, singer Ziazan Horrocks-Hopayian and five players from the London Symphony Orchestra record in a large church. The scene is informal and busy, and there are cables and microphones throughout the scene.

Welcome Party (2021)

International Communication Disaster 1877' version: May 2020 (2022)

Photo of conductor Jon Hargreaves and spatially distanced musicians from Octandre Ensemble recording a piece of music in a timber-clad modern concert hall. The photo is taken from the perspective of one of the musicians, playing from a balcony above the stage, and their music fills the bottom half of the frame.

Sub (2021)

Abstract, scribbled pen drawing of musicians and instruments.

Nevis Ensemble: Pandemic activity (2020-21)

Closeup of assorted wooden, metal and glass percussion instruments sitting on a tray in a dimly-lit performance space.

The Fish that became the Sun, World premiere (2019)

A photo of the Nevis Ensemble musicians, with their back to the camera, playing with Jon Hargreaves conducting (facing the camera), on the Island of Hirta in the St Kilda archipelago. They are outdoors, with an inlet from the Atlantic ocean, and a rugged peninsula behind them. They are dressed in brightly coloured clothing.

Nevis Ensemble: Outer Hebrides Tour (2019)

Eight musicians stand in a semicircle, infront of a battery of interesting percussion instruments. in front of them is composer Rolf Hind, in a white shirt and terracotta-coloured trousers. The backdrop is a bright blue, and the stage is brightly lit. They look directly at the camera.

Rolf Hind Composer Portrait (2018)

Caucasian man in striped shirt and black jeans, with smooth black hair, wearing safety goggles. He is chopping wood behind a plexiglass safety screen, on stage as part of a musical performance.

Frank Denyer Composer Portrait (2018)

An image of the Octandre Ensemble recording on a modern, timber-lined concert platform. There are 3 groups of 4 players playing a large assortment of instruments in a large semi-circle around the stage, plus Jon Hargreaves conducting in the middle. The mood is informal, but busy.

The Fish that Became the Sun Recording (2018)

Nicola LeFanu Composer Portrait (2018)

A closeup photo of Jon Hargreaves conducting the Nevis Ensemble in a dark space, lit by fairy lights.His arms are raised, and he wears a black shirt. in the foreground is the back of a violinist, with her hair pulled up into a chignon.

Nevis Ensemble: Inaugural Summer tour (2018)

A symmetrical photo of 7 musicians from the London Symphony Orchestra in a semicircle around a brightly lit stage, with Jon hargreaves conducting at the centre (with his back to the camera). The photo is taken from the middle of the audience. The musicians are dressed in black clothing, and the mood is formal and professional.

LSO Soundhub Showcase (2017)

Image of the Octandre Ensemble in concert, in St John's Smith Square, London. the stage has a domed ceiling, draped red velvet panels either side of the performers, and a large chandelier above the stage.

Principal Sound: Layers of Love (2016)

Taxi Driver (2016)

photo of Jon Hargreaves conducting into a camera, with live projections of different groups of musicians on three screens around him. Taken during the Online Orchestra research project at Falmouth University.

Online Orchestra (2014-15)

Photographed, from the back of the audience, a man conducts a small ensemble in low lighting

Curiouser (2015)

Closeup scan of a diagram, featuring geometric shapes, musical letter names, intersection lines and map coordinates.

Sinan Savaskan Composer Portrait (2014)

Camera still from the David Lean film "Brief Encounter". A black and white photo of a man and woman, both white and middle-aged, looking into each other's eyes, backlit by street lamps/

Brief Encounter (2014)

Cover art for Andy Ruddy's album "Everything is in Order". A print of part of the London skyline in silhouette against a dark green background.

Everything is in Order (2014)

Cover art for Sam Forrest's album "Population 4000". A pen and coloured pencil drawing of a teenage boy of Asian descent in a red teeshirt, wearing a white hygiene mask, holding a green banner with writing on it. Behind him is a city scene with skyscrapers, cars and traffic lights.

Population 4000 (2013)

Anglo-French Composers Forum (2012)

Medieval Modernist (2012)

Music as Spheres (2011)

Cover art for Chris Helme's album "The Rookery". A coloured pen drawing of black and white wooden houses set up in the branches of an autumnal tree.

The Rookery (2011)

Cover art for Hayley Hutchinson's album "Hawks to the Wind": A drawing of a boy wearing artificial wings on sand dunes, with the sun sinking over the horizon.

Hawks to the Wind (2011)

Cover art for The Yards' album "Imperial Measures". A pen drawing of a black horse rearing up on its hind legs, with billows of white smoke and burning books around its feet.

Imperial Measures (2009)

Album cover art for The Yards' Album "The Yards". A black, red and pink image of a cabaret dancer holding a red love heart, with two vintage boxer silhouettes either side of her, and a skull with crossed pistols at the top. the look like tattoo art.

The Yards (2005)

Photo credit: Martin Stewart

Jon works across musical genres as a composer, arranger and conductor, from his base in Scotland. His professional portfolio over the last 10 years encompasses artistic directorships; conducting new music, as well as standard orchestral repertoire and opera; composing/arranging for orchestras, singer-songwriters and other artists; and executive production for recording projects; He co-founded the Octandre Ensemble with the composer Christian Mason in 2011. He has conducted and led the Ensemble in festival appearances in London and at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, leading to appearances on BBC Radio 3, and CD releases on Another Timbre and SN Variations. He was founding Co-Artistic Director of Glasgow's Nevis Ensemble until 2022, conducting over 200 performances in settings ranging from schools and prisons to museums, art galleries and concert halls, as well as on top of Ben Nevis and on the remote isles of St Kilda. Since 2023, he conducts the Film Composers Lab at the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO).

Jon has a long-term and deep-rooted interest in musical value and meaning. He has published music analytic work, as well as collaborations in the social psychology of music, music education and embodied music cognition. Jon teaches at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Composer/Arranger

'Along came [Maeve] Gilchrist with ... a feast of melancholic optimism propelled by her febrile dexterity, flashes of wild glissandi and, in Jon Hargreaves’ and Pippa Murphy’s orchestral arrangement, poignant moments of impressionistic reflection’. (Ken Walton, The Scotsman)

‘The luminous sound produced by the orchestra and Gilchrist's Celtic, harp was worth the price of admission alone'(Russell Leadbetter, Scotland Herald)

Jon released his own debut album, ‘Sunrise 545’ in 2024, which arose from a collaboration with Chris Helme. In early 2025, his music features as part of the RSNO’s schools project, ‘Sounds of the Deep’. As an arranger, recent UK-based projects include writing for the BBC Concert Orchestra and Katherine Priddy at the BBC Proms, the RSNO at the Scottish Refugee Festival, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Maeve Gilchrist at Celtic Connections. Across the Atlantic, Jon has worked as an arranger and composer for projects with Symphony Nova Scotia, Canada; and for the duo 'Fire & Grace' at the Carmel Bach Festival in San Diego, California.

Jon’s high-end, bespoke arrangements have brought artists critical acclaim in the national popular music press, with named mentions in Q magazine, the BBC R2 Rock and Reel magazine and elsewhere. Collaborators include Chris Helme, Shed Seven, Sam Forrest, Hayley Hutchinson, and more recently, Martha Bean, Rocketsmith and Boxteles.

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Octandre Ensemble

'Denyer's hour-long masterpiece had a gripping flow that was sometimes thunderously aggressive, sometimes beguiling and often disturbing. I will be searching out the recording (Another Timbre) made by these excellent performers — the Octandre Ensemble directed by Christian Mason and Jon Hargreaves.'(Richard Morrison, The Times)

Jon co-founded London's Octandre Ensemble with the composer Christian Mason in 2011. The group focusses on music written after 1945, with an emphasis on timbre and ritual. Octandre’s purpose is to advance music exploration, working with composers to bring out deeper threads of meaning and connection within and between their works. The approach has led to a track record of unique, authoritatively curated performances of rarely heard music. Octandre's output takes many forms, amongst which CDs, concerts, digital and print resources, discussion fora and more. In November 2019 Jon conducted the World Premiere of Frank Denyer's singular epic The Fish that became the Sun at HCMF, as well as its release on Another Timbre records. The work went on to win the RPS Prize for Large-scale Composition.

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Selected Discography

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As conductor

Screens (2023) - Frank Denyer - Octandre Ensemble - Another Timbre

Sub (2022) - Jack Sheen - Octandre Ensemble - SN Variations

Welcome Party (2021) - Cevanne Horrocks-Hopaiyan - Ziazan Horrocks-Hopaiyan, Trish Clowes, Tim Giles, London Symphony Orchestra

The Fish that Became the Sun (Songs of the dispossessed) (2018) - Frank Denyer - Benjamin Gilmore, Octandre Ensemble - Another Timbre

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As arranger/composer

World of my Own (2024) - Chris Helme

First Light EP (2022) - Martha Bean

Clouds Behind the Moon (2022) - Alan Leach

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As executive producer

24 Preludes and Fugues (2024) - Matt Dibble - Freddy Kempf - Divine Art Recordings

Screens (2023) - Frank Denyer - Octandre Ensemble - Another Timbre