COMPOSER
ARRANGER
ORCHESTRATOR
TROMBONIST
Callum Au is a British composer, arranger, orchestrator, and trombonist. He writes music across a wide range of genres, with a particular passion for orchestral and large jazz ensemble music. He is highly regarded for his stylistic awareness and versatility, and has worked with some of the world’s biggest artists.
Born in London to a Scottish mother and a Chinese father, Callum spent most of his formative years in Blackpool before moving to London, where he now lives and works.
Arranger, Orchestrator, Composer
Over the past fifteen years, Callum has established himself as one of the busiest arrangers in the world. He has had the privilege of writing music for many international artists including Quincy Jones, Jamie Cullum and RAYE, and ensembles including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the WDR Funkhaus Orchestra, and the Danish Radio Big Band. In 2021 he arranged two songs for Michael Bublé’s Grammy winning album ‘Higher’. More recently, he contributed four arrangements to Dua Lipa’s ‘Live from the Royal Albert Hall’ and wrote the vast majority of the critically acclaimed 2024 BBC Concert Orchestra Disco Prom.
Callum is also active as a composer, with his flair for arresting melodies and lush complex harmony proving popular with audiences and musicians alike. Recent commissions include works for Inner City Brass, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and Bone a-fide Trombone Quartet, and groups as diverse as the BBC Concert Orchestra and the SWR Big Band have performed his original music.
Musical Director
Callum is increasingly busy as a musical director and conductor in both live and studio contexts. He brings to the table his stylistic awareness and his expertise as a performer and arranger. In 2021 he conducted and directed the BBC Concert Orchestra in a special Sunday Night is Music Night broadcast from the Watford Town Hall; he has subsequently conducted several of the Radio 2 Piano Rooms series. In 2023 he was invited to guest-direct Stuttgart’s SWR Big Band as part of their Heimspiel series. He is equally at home as a studio MD, having recently conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on Emma Smith’s single ‘Alfie’.
Trombonist
Callum has been the jazz trombonist with the Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra since 2012. The band is one of the UK’s premier large jazz ensembles, with a performance schedule to match. He often writes new music for the band to play.
Callum is often seen moonlighting as a session trombonist, playing on many of the films and album projects that are recorded in the London studios.
Callum is a Yamaha Artist, and plays the YSL-897Z jazz trombone, the YSL882ORII tenor trombone and the YBL835GD Bass trombone.