Howard Blake OBE
​(28th October 1938)

Howard Blake is an ex-pupil of Downs Junior School - he attended in the 1940s when the school was called Downs County Primary School. Howard often re-visits Downs Junior School to attend our Christmas Concert. In 2018 he generously paid for the children to watch The Snowman Live at the Theatre Royal Brighton.

Howard's career has spanned over 50 years and has produced more than 650 works. His most successful work is his soundtrack for Channel 4’s 1982 animated film (of Raymond Briggs' 1978 children's book), The Snowman, including the song "Walking in the Air". The song forms the centrepiece of The Snowman, which has become a seasonal perennial on British television.

Howard's Recent School/Concert Visits
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Howard Blake with musicians at Downs Junior School in 2013
In 2013, Howard  performed Walking in the Air at the end of our Christmas concert : ​This was an enormous privilege .
Below, Howard Blake talks about how ​he came to write
​the music for The Snowman:
Watch The Snowman below:
The story relates the fleeting adventures of a young boy and a snowman who has come to life. In the second part of the story, the boy and the snowman fly to the North Pole. "Walking in the Air" is the theme for the journey. They attend a party of snowmen, at which the boy is the only human. They meet Father Christmas and his reindeer, and the boy is given a scarf with a snowman pattern. Excitingly, the story is set in Brighton and the film clearly features the Brighton Pier and the South Downs. Raymond Briggs is based in the nearby village of Ditchling.

The Snowman Live - on Stage at the Theatre Royal Brighton 2018

In January 2018, Howard Blake, very generously, paid for theatre tickets for all of the children in Year 3. 
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