Bobbie-Jane Gardner is a composer and arranger based in Birmingham, U.K. Her music, described as “lyrical”, “harmonically subtle and rhythmically agile” often takes as inspiration the sound worlds of jazz, soul and funk. Bobbie has been commissioned by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), Grand Union, Heart n Soul, London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), Spitalfields Music, Onyx Brass, Persona Arts, Punch Records, the Stringcredibles, Tom Kerstens’s G Plus Ensemble, Vivid Projects and Wild Plum Arts.
A keen arranger, Bobbie has created bespoke arrangements for various ensembles including for opera singer Byron Jackson, the BBC Concert Orchestra and more recently Alicia Keys, in support of a special arrangement for Netflix’s Queen Charlotte series. Her work has been performed by leading ensembles such as Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, the CBSO, Central England Camerata, Coull Quartet, Ensemble KROCK, City of London Sinfonia, Ethereal World, Noszferatu, LSO, Quatuor Bozzini, Psappha and Skipton Camerata. Bobbie’s music has been performed nationally at Cheltenham Music Festival, Birmingham’s Frontiers Festival, London Jazz Festival and internationally, including the United States.
A keen collaborator, Bobbie has worked with film makers, visual artists, choreographers, theatre makers and chefs. Her most ambitious project was a citywide musical ode to her home town called for-Wards, working with over 800 Brummies. More recently she has worked with Academy award-nominated filmmaker & photographer Brian Cross (B+) on music of the unseen which celebrates seminal composer-arrangers.
Bobbie works as a practice-based researcher and previously worked as a lecturer at Leeds Conservatoire. She is currently a visiting lecturer at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.