WRITER & COMPOSER
MUSICAL DIRECTOR
About
Hailing from Wrexham, North Wales, Jordan Li-Smith is a multi-award-winning composer, lyricist, writer, conductor, arranger, orchestrator, performer and pianist. His musicals have been praised as “heartfelt, enchanting and ambitious” (All Things Theatre), while his musical direction has been described as “impeccable” (The Stage), and noted that “he conducts with a ferocity, an impassioned clarity, that reminds one of Leonard Bernstein” (Live Theatre UK). He has twice won the Offie for Best Musical Director and the BroadwayWorldUK Award for Best Musical Direction.
This year, Jordan’s newest musical, Theo In Between — written with librettist Gareth Mattey — has been commissioned by the British Youth Music Theatre, and will premiere later this year.
His musical adaptation of The Boy Who Sailed the Ocean in an Armchair, based on the novel by Lara Williamson, won the National Youth Music Theatre's Best New Writing Award and premiered at Leicester Curve in 2023, where it was hailed “a divine new musical full of warmth” (East Midlands Theatre) and “a triumph” (Theatre and Tonic). It received twelve BroadwayWorld UK Award nominations, including Best New Musical. A new production is slated for 2026. Also in development is 73 Seconds, a musical about the NASA Challenger Shuttle Disaster and the Teacher in Space program. Its development was supported by Birmingham Hippodrome’s RIFF Residencies.
Jordan’s song "Height Lines” was a finalist for the Stiles and Drewe Best New Song Prize 2023, and "Better Day”, originally performed by Lauren Drew, won the New York Drama League’s Anthems for the Future of Theater. The song was performed by Tony-award-winning actress Bonnie Milligan at a Drama League benefit in New York, honouring Broadway actor Wayne Brady. His work was also featured in the Horizons Volume #2 concert at Crazy Coqs.
Photo by Miriam Pancheva.
With over a decade of experience in music directing, Jordan has worked on new musicals, UK premieres and landmark revivals. He was the musical director for the new Dolly Parton musical, Here You Come Again (Leeds Playhouse/Riverside Studios/UK Tour) and the 2023 China Tour of Titanic. He also musically supervises the development of the hit cult musical, Starry, based on the life of Vincent Van Gogh, and made his West End conducting debut with the Olivier Award-winning revival of City of Angels, for which he was Assistant Musical Director.
Jordan has earned Off-West End awards for Ragtime (Charing Cross) and Michael John LaChuisa’s Queen of the Mist (Jack Studio/Charing Cross). Other London credits as musical director or supervisor include Berlusconi, The Lion, Dave Malloy’s Preludes (Southwark Playhouse), the UK premiere of Amour (Charing Cross, +orchestrations), Kirsten Childs’ The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin (Theatre Royal Stratford East) and Anything Goes (The Other Palace). He was Associate Music Director for the Off-West End revival of Songs for a New World at Upstairs at the Gatehouse. He conducted and supervised the original London cast recording of Queen of the Mist (produced with Auburn Jam Music), and frequently guest conducts for the London Musical Theatre Orchestra.
He received a BroadwayWorld UK Award for the world premiere of The Assassination of Katie Hopkins (Theatr Clwyd). Other selected regional credits include the Offie-winning deaf-inclusive production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Manchester Cathedral), Chess (Leicester Curve) and One Man Two Guvnors (Bolton Octagon/UK Tour). He is a sought-after music director for many of the leading drama colleges, selected productions including A Little Night Music, Les Misérables (Mountview), Merrily We Roll Along (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Arts Ed), Amour and Next to Normal (Royal Academy of Music).
Photo by Miriam Pancheva.
Jordan is an accomplished cabaret pianist and performer, debuting with Songs I Wish I Had Written at Bishopsgate Institute. He has collaborated with many artists, including Keith Ramsey in Miss ShowBusiness: 100 Years of Judy Garland at Phoenix Arts Club, and Lucy Penrose in Judy and I at Crazy Coqs. For the Elton John musical biopic film Rocketman, Jordan was the Children’s Casting Musical Director, where he made a very brief on-screen cameo.
Jordan studied musical direction at the Royal Academy of Music, London, graduating at the age of 20, where he was awarded the Sir Elton John Scholarship and the Ian Fleming Musical Theatre Award. This year, he will be named Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) for his significant contributions to the musical theatre. Jordan is a proud member of Mercury Musical Developments & their Advanced Lab II.
Writing Awards
National Youth Music Theatre's Best New Writing Award (Winner)
The Boy Who Sailed the Ocean in an Armchair
The Drama League's Anthems for the Future of Theater (Winner)
Better Day
BroadwayWorld UK Award, Best New Musical (Nominated)
The Boy Who Sailed the Ocean in an Armchair
(12 nominations in total)
Stiles and Drewe Best New Song Prize (Finalist)
Height Lines, from The Boy Who Sailed the Ocean in an Armchair (Finalist)
Music Direction Awards
Off West End Award, Best Musical Director
Ragtime (Winner)
Queen of the Mist (Winner)
Amour (Finalist)
BroadwayWorldUK Award, Best Musical Direction
The Assassination of Katie Hopkins (Winner)
Here You Come Again (Nominated)
Chess (Nominated)
Berlusconi (Nominated)
AlsoRecognised Award, Best Musical Director (Runner Up)
Ragtime
“Musically, the work here is exceptional. Jordan Li-Smith plays the piano and conducts proceedings with a ferocity, an impassioned clarity, that reminds one of Leonard Bernstein. ”
— Live Theatre UK, on the acclaimed 2016 actor-musician off-west end production of 'Ragtime'
Testimonials
"I have worked with Jordan several times, most notably as Musical Director on Ragtime at Charing Cross Theatre. Ours was an actor-musician production, which required all the players to be off-book. Jordan memorised the entire score and played it beautifully, sometimes with each hand on a different piano and while being swung around the stage on moving platforms! It was a sight to behold. He’s also the nicest, most dedicated man one could ask to work with."
Danielle Tarento
Producer & Casting Director
"Jordan is a wonderful collaborator who matches an almost encyclopaedic knowledge and respect for music in theatre with a strong creative instinct, a sharp wit and a heart full of empathy towards those who work with him."
Dean Johnson
Director of 'Starry'
"Jordan was a real asset to our production of The Lion, a one-man musical. He brought such an eye for detail and in so many subtle ways, adding so much colour and nuance to the songs that truly enhanced the storytelling. Being a solo show, Jordan was also crucial in providing advice and vocal techniques for our actor to support him through such a vocally demanding role. I'd absolutely work with him again.
Alex Thomas
Director of 'The Lion'
"I love working with Jordan. His energy and enthusiasm are infectious, his command and sheer knowledge a joy to share in. Plus, he loves Judy Garland. I would work with him again in a heartbeat."
Matt Ryan
Director
"Jordan is a singularly excellent music director. His sensitivity to an actor’s process and how that inspires them to have a greater sense of strengthening their musical acting is unparalleled in the industry. His masterful command of everything from small bands to full-size symphony orchestras, and how quickly he can create a unified ensemble, is a testament to his exceptional talent. Jordan also has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the musical form and from this, he is able to make creative and exciting decisions that have perfectly informed and made my productions better."
Alex Sutton
Director of 'Preludes'
"Jordan is an extraordinarily talented and brilliant MD, a superlative musician and generous collaborator. I loved working with him, and will do so again at every opportunity."
James Grieve
Director of 'The Assassination of Katie Hopkins' & former Artistic Director of Paines Plough