C. Williams
about AMY MAY
Amy May is a composer, viola player and multi-instrumentalist based in the UK.
Amy's music has been described as being 'like Arcade Fire playing in an English country garden' (NME). She writes commercial music for TV, films and adverts, and collaborates with contemporary artists, performers and film makers. She orchestrates and arranges for bands from Muse to Dizzee Rascal and helps create and realise live performances alongside electronic and non-classical artists.
Amy currently plays viola and violin for the multiple Grammy award winning 'Hamilton' and works as a live and session musician for a wide range of bands and artists, ranging from Little Simz and Tom Odell to Pet Shop Boys and Richard Ashcroft. She also plays with orchestras such as BBC Concert Orchestra and LCO.
Photo credit: Nick Tucker
Session Work
Amy is a session recording musician working across pop, electronic and indie music, as well as film and screen soundtracks. She has recorded with artists including Emeli Sandé, Jorja Smith, Little Simz, Pet Shop Boys, Richard Ashcroft, Snow Patrol, Dizzee Rascal, Madness, KT Tunstall, Tom Odell, Olly Murs, Alexandra Burke, Jessie Glynne, Patrick Wolf, Professor Green, Pete Tong, Hurts, Razorlight, The Streets, These New Puritans and Sault, alongside a wide range of respected independent and emerging artists.
Amy also records regularly for film and television soundtracks, with work featured across projects for Netflix, Disney and Channel 4, among others.
Photo credit: Nick Tucker
Live/touring
As a live performer, Amy has performed and toured with a range of influential and contemporary artists including Benjamin Clementine, Anna Calvi, Aphex Twin, Chase & Status, Goldie, Imogen Heap, Elbow, Hurts, Freya Ridings, Jessie J, John Newman, Jamie Cullum, Ben Folds, Angus & Julia Stone, Ella Eyre, The Killers, Snow Patrol, Sam Smith, Muse, Michael Bublé, The Kooks, The XX, as well as with legends such as Jane Birkin, Jeff Beck and John Cale.
In addition to her touring and session work. Amy has held the violin/viola chair on the London production og 'Hamilton: The Musical' since it opened in 2017.
Photo credit: Tessa Angus
Writing
Amy works extensively as a composer and arranger across contemporary music, film, performance and library music. She regularly collaborates with visual artist Hetain Patel, composing and performing original music for his films, sculptures and live performance works, which have been presented internationally at venues including Tate Modern, Sadler’s Wells, Chatterjee & Lal (Mumbai) and the Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art (Beijing). Their collaborative work spans film, performance and live ensemble music, and has been described as a highly original collision of image, identity, language and sound.
Alongside this, Amy writes extensively for production and library music. She has composed music for libraries and broadcasters including EMI, Imagem, Sonoton, Cavendish Music, Touch Tones, Extreme Music, Velvet Ears and Channel 4, with work spanning television, film and commercial media. She also writes bespoke arrangements for library artists recording with live musicians, and has recently arranged four new albums of classical repertoire for EMI.
Amy’s arranging work includes projects for artists such as Muse, Jonathan Jeremiah, Dizzee Rascal, Hurts, Patrick Wolf, SBTRKT and The Heritage Orchestra, working across pop, electronic and orchestral contexts.
Photo credit: Nick Tucker
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