Earlier this month, I spoke with David Davies, from Resolution Magazine about my work in factual television, my influences as a composer and about our artistic intentions as part of the Miro Shot collective.
Read the article in full here.
Music tells ‘great stories’: Interview with Resolution Magazine
- alexparsons
- February 25, 2019
- Music
- 0 comments
Stacey Dooley: The Young and Homeless Airs 13th November
- alexparsons
- November 8, 2018
- Documentary
- 0 comments
Stacey Dooley: The Young and Homeless
Delighted to have been asked by the BAFTA-winning True Vision to compose a score for Stacey Dooley: The Young and Homeless, which airs on BBC 1 on November 13th at 10.45pm. In the film, Stacey uncovers stories from the UK’s homeless teenagers. The film sensitively shares the thoughts and concerns of some of society’s most vulnerable young people.
Last year in the UK over 100,000 young people presented themselves as homeless – but the real number is much higher, as thousands of teens go under the radar by sofa surfing or staying with friends.
BBC One – Tuesday 13th October at 22:45
Producer/Director: Katie Rice
Producer: Amy Richardson
Editor/Colourist/Dubbing Mixer: Paddy Garrick
Executive Producer: Brian Woods
Speaking at We Are Robots 2018 @ 93 Feet East
- alexparsons
- October 10, 2018
- Speaking
- 0 comments
I have been invited to join a panel of speakers at this year’s We Are Robots festival at the Truman Brewery, Brick Lane in London. It will be a pleasure to share a stage with futurist and author Amelia Kallman, cellist and composer Abi Wade and 360 sound artist and producer Daniel Potter AKA Warsnare
We will be discussing ‘Technologies in Music: How far have we come and where do we go next?’
Hosted and curated by Matthew Dempsey and the Audio Engineering Society
Venue: 93 Feet East
Date: 11th October 2018
Time: 6.30pm GMT
The panel is being filmed and will available to watch online following the event.
999: On The Frontline – Series 2
- alexparsons
- September 22, 2018
- Documentary
- 0 comments
On Sunday 23rd September, 999: On the Front Line returns for a second series of ten episodes following the paramedics of the West Midlands Ambulance Service as they respond to medical emergencies happening simultaneously across the region. It was a pleasure to have composed a selection of music for the series.
Caring for a population of over 5.5 million people spread over 5 thousand square miles, they are the country’s fastest responding ambulance service. Embedded with 9 different ambulance crews spread across three emergency hubs we capture simultaneously every minute of their 12 hour shifts to provide a unique snapshot of life on the front line. Told with a mix of high energy actuality shot on fixed rig, bodycam, roving film crews, and retrospective master interviews, each episode shows the variety of cases the service attends often within the same hour.
During one of the worst winters we have seen, this series we follow the crews as they battle through the snow and react to the highest amount of calls the service has ever dealt with.
Segregated America: A School in the South (BBC 1)
- alexparsons
- August 25, 2018
- Documentary
- 0 comments
Delighted that after a six week run in the US on National Geographic last year, American High School is returning to BBC 1, every Monday from August 20th under the new title of Segregated America: A School in the South. The series box set is also available to watch now on iPlayer.
Segregated America: A School in the South follows a charismatic principal and his students over the course of one school year and through their eyes we witness life-changing moments. In the US, life chances for students who graduate high school are often starkly different to those who don’t, a disparity even more marked for African-American pupils.
With the odds often stacked against them we follow the class of 2016 over this, their make-or-break year.
We experience their highs and their lows as they prepare for life after high school. We meet Ivy League hopefuls, male cheerleaders and young mothers on a tough journey into adulthood. This is school as you’ve never seen it before and a unique insight into how it really feels to be young and black in America today.
Meanwhile, high-achieving pupil Jalena begins college applications, but with college fees costing more than a house, will she even be able to afford to go? Male cheerleader Vernon, and star football player Kordel, each prepare for the big Friday night football game. Can a win for the school help to get Dr Peters’ ambitions back on track?
Original soundtrack available here
Producer/Director: Marcus Plowright
Executive Producers: Joe Evans and Neil Crombie
Production Company: Swan Films
Composer: Alexander Parsons
TX Date: 18th October 2016
BBC1: February 2017
National Geographic (US): 26th September 2017
BBC1: August 2018
“Every participant is treated with careful, considered respect… This is helped by Alexander Parsons’ impressive score, mixing tinges of the music the kids listen to with his own emotive arrangements. Six episodes of hope, just when it’s needed”.
Julia Reside (on American High School), The Guardian, 11th November 2016