Lester Barnes’ song production credits include brass, string and full orchestral arrangements for film, television and albums. In 2025, his arrangement of the D-Day Darlings’ poignant single The Longest Day was performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra.
He contributed to the 2019 UK Christmas Number 1, I Love Sausage Rolls. For Peter Andre’s 2015 chart-topping album Come Fly With Me, Lester transcribed big band arrangements for seven songs, including I’ve Got You Under My Skin, Fly Me to the Moon and Mack the Knife, and created new arrangements for Mysterious Swing, reinventing Andre’s earlier hit Mysterious Girl in big band style.
Song Gallery
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His string arrangements feature on the Oscar-nominated Best Original Song Lost Stars from the film Begin Again, performed in contrasting versions by Keira Knightley and Adam Levine.
Lester has also collaborated on notable releases including The Overtones’ platinum-selling debut album Good Ol’ Fashioned Love, Si Cranstoun’s debut single Caught in the Moonlight, shortlisted for the BBC Radio 2 playlist, and Given Up Giving Up for Lilygreen & Maguire.
For the long-established Horrid Henry brand, he wrote and produced songs for Horrid Henry’s Most Horrible Album, released on EMI.
He produced and arranged Andy Mayo’s 2014 album Lavish (Turquoise Tracks), and his remixes, including The Soul Rebels’ 504 and Róisín Murphy’s Momma’s Place, have won multiple awards on Indaba Music.
