Jonathan Dove’s early musical experience came from playing the piano, organ, and viola; he later studied composition at Cambridge and worked as an accompanist, repetiteur, animateur, and arranger. This experience gave him a deep understanding of singers and the complex mechanics of the opera house. Since his breakthrough opera, Flight, Dove has written almost thirty operatic works, as well as two works for the Last Night of the Proms: A Song of Joys (2010) and Our Revels Now Are Ended (2016). Dove has maintained a serious commitment to community development through innovative projects such as Tobias and the Angel, which brings together children, community choirs, and professional singers; Life is a Dream, written for Birmingham Opera Company, which was performed by professionals and community choruses in a disused Birmingham warehouse; The Walk from The Garden—a church opera involving community singers—which was premiered at the 2012 Salisbury International Arts Festival; and The Monster in the Maze, a community opera commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and performed under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle. Jonathan Dove was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen’s 2019 Birthday Honours for services to music.