‘Welcome To This Mighty Place’ was conceived and composed as a Viking drinking song for King Heorot (played by Neil Balfour) to sing and welcome the audience into his mighty Mead Hall. With libretto by Ian Macmillan (The Bard of Barnsley).

BACKGROUND

Proper Job Theatre’s large-scale immersive Yorkshire adaptation of the oldest known English poem, was created especially for Kirklees Year of Music 2023 and adapted by five Yorkshire-based poets Ian McMillan, Michelle Scally-Clarke, Joel Simmy, Chris O'Connor and Franc Chamberlain.

Working with composer Leighton Jones and Supriya Nagarajan (Manasamitra) on an original score telling the story of a female Beowulf with a visually arresting, musical celebration, the performances took place between 8 and 11 November 2023 and included a Viking procession along the streets of Huddersfield to St Peter’s Church where the story of Beowulf was told.

Leighton was commissioned to compose four new choral works for 60-strong community choir and pipe organ, in addition to his soundscape collaborations with Supriya Nagarajan.

Beowulf - Welcome To This Mighty Place (Live)

Leighton Jones is a British theatre composer currently based in West Yorkshire. Mentored by Belize born British composer Errollyn Wallen, he completed a Masters of Music (Composition and {Performance) at Leeds College of Music in 2017.

Recent works include The Wish Thief, a commission in 2024 by the Royal Ballet and Opera to compose a new opera in collaboration with their Youth Opera Chorus, with libretto by Jonathon Ainscough and Leighton Jones (premiered at the Linbury Theatre in July 2025); and four new choral works for Beowulf, commissioned for Proper Job Theatre’s critically acclaimed site-specific immersive production of the epic poem in Huddersfield as part of Kirklees Year of Music 2023, with libretto by Ian McMillan (The Bard of Barnsley) and Leeds poet Michelle Scally Clarke.

Relocating from West Yorkshire to the Isle of Skye with his parents at a young age, Leighton spent the latter half of his childhood growing up surrounded by the traditional folk music, culture and landscape of the Scottish Highlands and Islands. Being part of a close knit community with only one high school on the island significantly influenced his work, and led to a stylistically diverse creative output with a strong focus on storytelling, folk theatre, community and collaboration. In addition to his solo commissioned work, he has developed a keen interest in collaborative music making with artists of varying disciplines across Scotland - from theatre to dance, film, art and sound installation. His work has been consistently supported by UK arts organisations including The Scottish Arts Council, Creative Scotland and Aldeburgh Music:

In 2001 he joined Celtic-fusion act The Peatbog Faeries on keyboards, co-writing their third and fourth studio album Welcome to Dunvegas (2003) and Croftwork (2005) with performances throughout Europe, America and Australia. During this period, he also worked as Musical Director for The Isle of Skye Youth Theatre company alongside theatre director Katyana Kozikowska and mentoring a troupe of high school drama and music students through the production of two musicals - Chicago (2003) and My Fair Lady (2004).

In 2009 he formed Hebridean folk-noir quartet The Dead Man's Waltz with Hector Macinnes, recording and releasing their critically acclaimed self-titled debut album (2011) “Fusing Weimar Cabaret, the accordion of Yann Tiersen and theatriality of Beirut and Bellowhead' (The Herald). In 2013, the quartet were commissioned by Glasgow’s Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) to compose a show marking the opening of The Glasgow Film Festival. Collaborating with a team of Scottish writers and artists including film maker Johhny Barrington and sci-fi author Hal Duncan, their multi-media sell out show Story’s End combined experimental music, film and spoken word and went on to play a string of sell-out shows at The Edinburgh Fringe and The Festival of Death at London's Southbank Centre. 

Whilst performing with The Dead Man’s Waltz, he scored and directed a balletic short film starring and choreographed by Eve Mutso and Tama Barry from Scottish Ballet. Death as a New Beginning was premiered at Glasgow CCA for the opening of the 2013 Film Festival as part of Story’s End.

He was commissioned by ATLAS Arts in 2011 to compose a one hour long pirate radio broadcast for international artists Zoe Walker and Neil Bromwich's Celestial Radio in collaboration with sound artist, high school friend and writing partner Hector Macinnes. Transmitting from a sailing boat whose surface was covered by 60,000 mirror tiles 'reflecting and projecting the islands mythologies and landscapes', the broadcast aired on regional and national radio BBC Scotland and was later produced into a sixty-minute film premiering in early 2012 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney.

In 2015 he released his debut solo EP All The Way Home 'Showcasing a palette that spans melancholic piano balladry and traditional folk with a meticulous approach to sound design' (The Herald). The record was aired on BBC Radio 3's Global Gathering, Radio Scotland's Travelling Folk Show and performed live at St.Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh for the 2016 Hogmanay celebrations. Garnering stylistic comparisons to Peter Gabriel and the synth pop of the early 80's, the five track song-cycle pays homage to the landscapes of his youth, blending the traditional folk music of the highlands islands with colliery brass and chamber folk ensemble.

Relocating to Yorkshire in 2016, he formed chamber pop group Beware of Trains with Scottish soprano Marie Claire Breen (“A soprano of rare fluency" - The Daily Mail). Forging a collaboration combining their shared loved of musical theatre and orchestral pop, the band released their third single  Forever Home in November 2023, co-produced and mixed by Darren Allison (The Divine Comedy). “‘Forever Home’ carries all the glamour of the West End and all the alternative allure of the Legendary Pink Dots and Jason Webley…prepare for the scintillating resonance and grab a few tissues. It hits harder than the end of Raymond Brigg’s symphonic poem, the Snowman.” A&R Factory

Leighton’s studio is currently nestled in the wooded valley of Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire, where he teaches 1:1 piano and music lessons to budding pianists and composers of all ages and abilities. He also plays as accompanist for various local community choirs and provides workshop support for Opera North's education department based in Leeds, alongside vocal animateur Marie Claire Breen.

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