Paul Clark

Born in 1968, Paul Clark is a multi-award-winning British musician and educator. As Co-Artistic Director of Clod Ensemble he has written critically acclaimed original scores for almost all of the company’s productions to date.

Clark’s music explores the dissonances and consonances between different musical genres, practices and traditions. His work for Clod Ensemble has ranged from entirely acoustic works to multi-speaker installations. Each Clod Ensemble score is a bespoke composition created in dialogue with the visual material: Silver Swan is an a capella piece for seven classical singers; Under Glass features a surround-sound electroacoustic installation; An Anatomie in Four Quarters counterpoints electronics, live orchestral music and a rock band.

A leading composer on the British performance scene since the 1990s, Clark has scored dozens of productions both in the UK and internationally. He has written music for and with a hugely diverse range of musicians from across the musical spectrum – from opera superstar Renée Fleming to Grammy-winning producer Danger Mouse, Manchester Collective to The Fall’s Mark E. Smith.

Clark has a long-standing collaboration with theatre and opera director Katie Mitchell. He has written over thirty scores for Mitchell’s productions, including for acclaimed works such as Waves and Wunschkonzert and for performances staged at venues including the National Theatre, Berlin Schaubühne and Vienna’s Burgtheater.

He has twice worked with Samuel Beckett specialists Gare St Lazare Ireland. This relationship includes Clark co-creating Here All Night, staged at the Brighton Festival (2013), New York City’s Lincoln Centre (2018) and Dublin’s The Abbey (2018).

Further stage works include 2019’s Anne Carson’s Norma Jeane Baker of Troy at New York City’s The Shed, 2009’s The Weather Man with Leeds’ Opera North, 2005’s Liebeslied/My Suicides with Rut Blees Luxemburg at London’s ICA Gallery, and UK/US tours of Lois Weaver’s What Tammy Needs to Know. He has composed for TV/film productions by Simon Amstell, Arnaud Desplechin and John Michael McDonagh. Clark’s other notable works include scores for David Sedaris audio books, installations at the V&A Museum and composition for the 500th anniversary celebration of London’s Hampton Court Palace.

A leading voice around young peoples’ access to music education, Clark is the founder and leader of Ear Opener, Clod Ensemble’s inspirational project for music creators which combines a successful in-schools learning programme with a popular YouTube channel.