From the soaring, cinematic sounds of his film music to the beloved characters he has brought to life in his audiobook narration, Joel Clarkson is an award-winning composer, author and voiceover performer who is known for the vibrant colors he uses in each of his creative ventures. He began his career in film music, both as a composer and a sought-after orchestrator, and has provided music for numerous feature films and TV programs.

In addition to his film music, Clarkson has released more than a dozen recordings, both as a solo artist, and in collaboration with others. His recorded music spans multiple genres, from instrumental piano, to cinematic orchestral music, to choral a cappella, to singer/songwriter folk music. He has performed widely as a pianist and a vocalist on both sides of the Atlantic and his compositions have been streamed millions of times.

Alongside his other work in music, Clarkson has collaborated with churches in various traditions as a choral composer and conductor, writing original settings, conducting choirs, and consulting with congregations on choral development. He is an experienced baritone, and has performed widely in both amateur and professional settings.

In both his singing and his composition, he specialises in the English choral tradition, and has made inroads in contemporary Catholic worship as well. His original settings have been performed by eminent ensembles like VOCES8 and the Vicars Choral of St Paul’s Cathedral.

Supplementing his creative contributions to liturgy, Clarkson has spent half a decade developing a scholarly expertise in theology and the arts. He has written and spoken on a variety of topics relating to the field, including theology and film music, themes of silence and divine presence in twentieth-century composition, music and metaphysics, and the phenomenology of video games. He applies his research to advancing a deeper understanding of music as a medium of transcendence, both in both sacred and non-sacred settings.

Clarkson was born in Vienna, Austria. He received his undergraduate degree in music composition from Berklee College of Music, summa cum laude, and obtained a masters and PhD in theology at University of St Andrews. He currently makes his home in Oxford, England.