Dave (or David) Arch is a British pianist, conductor, arranger and composer who has enjoyed a prolific career covering a broad spectrum of music.He is probably best known as the Musical Director and arranger for BBC Television’s Strictly Come Dancing, a role he took over in 2006. He has just completed his 17th series of the hit show and in 2014, he and the rest of the production team were recipients of a collective special BAFTA Craft award. Since 2011 he has also been the Musical Director for ITV for the last twelve Royal Variety Performances, including it’s hundredth anniversary at the Albert Hall. In May 2023 he was music consultant for King Charles’ Coronation at Westminster Abbey.

Dave has been active in the recording studio for his whole career. He released an album of his own music in 2016 called ‘Coming Home‘ which features approximately 80 of the UK’s finest musicians and in 2022 released an album on the Linn label called True Colours, a collaboration with long time associate John Parricelli.

As a keyboardist he has worked on several hundred motion pictures including:
The Shape of Water
1917
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Gravity
Interstellar
Five of the films from the Harry Potter series
Full filmography: View Here

He has also recorded with/for a wide range of artists including:
Joni Mitchell
Paul McCartney
Elton John
Tina Turner
Diana Ross
Ed Sheeran
Full discography: View Here

In addition, Dave has worked live with Paul McCartney, promoting his ‘Memory Almost Full’ album in the US in 2007. He was also featured as a member of Greg Lake’s band and played with Freddie Mercury, Annie Lennox, Meatloaf, Tony Bennett, Rod Stewart, Natalie Cole, Madeline Bell and many more.

Dave composes extensively. He wrote the theme music for the long running GMTV (broadcasted between 1993 and 2010) and co-wrote (with Andy Todd) the song Always & Forever sung by Kylie Minogue for the ITV Soap Night and Day (broadcast between 2001-3) as well as composing the music for Lost Property (2014), an award winning short film by Asa Lucander. He also wrote the logos for London Weekend Television (1996-1998) and arranged the theme music for Emmerdale (broadcast between 1998 and 2011). He composed a host of Production music between 1986 and 1995 for assorted library companies and he continues to compose and arrange music extensively for television and commercials including the memorable ‘British Airways Island’.

Other notable T.V. career highlights include:
Musical Director for ITV for the last twelve Royal Variety Performances, including its hundredth anniversary at the Albert Hall, and for it’s series ‘Stepping Out’, ‘Pop Star to Opera Star’,’All Star Musicals’ and 3 specials for Ball & Boe.

He served as the chairperson of the British Jury panel for the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest held in Vienna, Austria following a 60th Anniversary Greatest Hits Television broadcast for which he was the Musical Director.
In 2019 he was awarded a fellowship by his former college, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.