Jasper Kent
Encyclopedia
Jasper Kent is an English author and composer. As a composer his work is generally in the field of musical theatre and his novels include Twelve and Thirteen Years Later, the first two books of the Danilov Quintet.
, England
, Jasper was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham
and read Natural Sciences (specializing in theoretical physics) at Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge. After graduating he worked as a software developer and consultant focusing on object-oriented languages such as C++
and C# and template metaprogramming
. Notable clients have included Citigroup
, Deloitte and Touche, BP
, Hughes Aircraft
and the UNICC. Jasper also provides training courses for Learning Tree International
.
Jasper has worked for almost twenty years in musical theatre as a singer, instrumentalist, musical director and composer. He has performed backing vocals for various artistes including Hinge and Bracket
, Stig Rossen and Russell Watson
and in the role of musical director has conducted, amongst others, Lucy Montgomery
and Daniel Boys
.
His four complete musicals are Writer’s Cramp and Malvolio’s Revenge (both written with Robert Renton) and The Promised Land and Remember! Remember! (with Robert Piatt and Robert Starr). The Promised Land was commissioned for and performed as part of the Jerusalem 3000 celebrations in 1996. Remember! Remember!, a musical dramatization of the events of the Gunpowder Plot
of 1605, has been produced as a studio CD recording and was premiered in Lewes
, Sussex
, England
in October 2008.
Jasper lives in the coastal Sussex town of Brighton
.
Twelve is the first novel in the Danilov Quintet, which spans Russian history from the French invasion of 1812 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. The second instalment, Thirteen Years Later, culminating in the Decembrist Uprising of 1825, was released in the UK in 2010. The third installment entitled The Third Section was released in the UK in 2011. The final two novels are provisionally titled The People's Will (2013) and The Last Oprichnik (2014).
Additionally, Jasper has written two as yet unpublished novels, Yours Etc., Mr Sunday, a murder mystery set in Brighton, and Sifr, a contemporary thriller encompassing cryptography and the discoveries of Roger Bacon
.
Biography
Born in WorcestershireWorcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Jasper was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham
King Edward's School, Birmingham
King Edward's School is an independent secondary school in Birmingham, England, founded by King Edward VI in 1552. It is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham, and is widely regarded as one of the most academically successful schools in the country, according to...
and read Natural Sciences (specializing in theoretical physics) at Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge. After graduating he worked as a software developer and consultant focusing on object-oriented languages such as C++
C++
C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
and C# and template metaprogramming
Template metaprogramming
Template metaprogramming is a metaprogramming technique in which templates are used by a compiler to generate temporary source code, which is merged by the compiler with the rest of the source code and then compiled. The output of these templates include compile-time constants, data structures, and...
. Notable clients have included Citigroup
Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate...
, Deloitte and Touche, BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
, Hughes Aircraft
Hughes Aircraft
Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded in 1932 by Howard Hughes in Culver City, California as a division of Hughes Tool Company...
and the UNICC. Jasper also provides training courses for Learning Tree International
Learning tree international
Learning Tree International, Inc. is a United States-based training company that provides over 235 instructor-led, classroom-based training courses to information technology and business professionals. In 2010, the company had revenue of $127.47 million...
.
Jasper has worked for almost twenty years in musical theatre as a singer, instrumentalist, musical director and composer. He has performed backing vocals for various artistes including Hinge and Bracket
Hinge and Bracket
Dr. Evadne Hinge and Dame Hilda Bracket were the stage personae of the musical performance and female impersonation artists George Logan and Patrick Fyffe...
, Stig Rossen and Russell Watson
Russell Watson
Russell Watson is an English tenor who has released singles and albums of both operatic-style and pop songs. The self-styled "People's Tenor" had been singing since he was a child, and became known after performing at a working men's club...
and in the role of musical director has conducted, amongst others, Lucy Montgomery
Lucy Montgomery
Lucy Montgomery may refer to:*Lucy Montgomery , British television actor*Lucy Maud Montgomery , Canadian author*Lucy Montgomery , a fictional character in U.S. soap opera As the World Turns...
and Daniel Boys
Daniel Boys
Daniel Boys is a British musical theatre actor, best known as a contestant on the BBC talent series Any Dream Will Do in 2007.-Acting Career:...
.
His four complete musicals are Writer’s Cramp and Malvolio’s Revenge (both written with Robert Renton) and The Promised Land and Remember! Remember! (with Robert Piatt and Robert Starr). The Promised Land was commissioned for and performed as part of the Jerusalem 3000 celebrations in 1996. Remember! Remember!, a musical dramatization of the events of the Gunpowder Plot
Gunpowder Plot
The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby.The plan was to blow up the House of...
of 1605, has been produced as a studio CD recording and was premiered in Lewes
Lewes
Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...
, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in October 2008.
Jasper lives in the coastal Sussex town of Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
.
Novels
Jasper is best known as the author of Twelve, a supernatural historical thriller set during Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812. The website Fantasy Book Review has ranked Twelve in sixth place in its list of all-time greatest historical fantasy novels. It has been translated into French, Polish, Italian and Turkish.Twelve is the first novel in the Danilov Quintet, which spans Russian history from the French invasion of 1812 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. The second instalment, Thirteen Years Later, culminating in the Decembrist Uprising of 1825, was released in the UK in 2010. The third installment entitled The Third Section was released in the UK in 2011. The final two novels are provisionally titled The People's Will (2013) and The Last Oprichnik (2014).
Additionally, Jasper has written two as yet unpublished novels, Yours Etc., Mr Sunday, a murder mystery set in Brighton, and Sifr, a contemporary thriller encompassing cryptography and the discoveries of Roger Bacon
Roger Bacon
Roger Bacon, O.F.M. , also known as Doctor Mirabilis , was an English philosopher and Franciscan friar who placed considerable emphasis on the study of nature through empirical methods...
.