Scott Chapman is a British drummer from London, where he still lives and works today. Known for his versatility, he has earned a reputation of being able to cover many musical situations and settings, reflected in a varied career centred around theatre, jazz and improvised music, and session work.
The musical grounding for Scott’s skillset trace back to his early teenage years when he was playing (and typically sight reading) classic big band repertoire on a weekly basis with ex-professionals. This valuable groundwork set him up to become the principal drummer for the National Youth Jazz Orchestra for six years, following in the footsteps of a number of acclaimed drummers from generations before. The band accounted for some of Scott’s early professional gigging experience across the country and an environment where he was surrounded by other musicians with whom he would continue to work with in years to come.
Already well versed in many styles, a proficient sight reader and able to steer the ship of a large ensemble, Scott wanted to work on improvisatory and small band settings more. In 2010 he was offered a place to study jazz at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music where he formed connections with many more musicians including accomplished bassist Misha Mullov-Abbado, whose group he still performs and and records with internationally. His time at college also saw him co-found the Patchwork Jazz Orchestra with other contemporaries in the London jazz scene, for which he has composed music for.
Graduating with a First-Class honours degree and receiving the Yamaha Jazz Scholarship prize for that year, Scott was later approached to join the UK tour of major hit musical ‘Wicked’ which saw his debut into the world of West End theatre. Thereafter he became a deputy for the long running London production which led to ‘dep’ work on a handful of other major West End shows. Most recently, Scott has been touring with Disney's Aladdin throughout 2024 on its first UK and Ireland tour. He is also a regular with the London Musical Theatre Orchestra, with whom he has played a number of high profile events from Vogue World 2024 to Magic FM’s yearly sell-out ‘Magic At The Musicals’ at the Royal Albert Hall.
Alongside performance based work, Scott has fostered an ongoing interest in recording drums. What started out as a hobby now sees a new branch of his career, remotely recording for clients from his second purpose built studio space. The catalyst for this came via a commission to record and produce a demo track for major UK retailer Marks and Spencer’s food advertising campaign, giving Scott the impetus to push this area of his skillset further. Since then he has worked on other television and online adverts, as well as a variety of tracks and albums for artists, songwriters and composers both in the UK and internationally.
West End Credits
Chair holder: Aladdin UK and Ireland Tour (2023-2025), Wicked UK Tour (2018, 2015)
Deputy: The Book Of Mormon (2022-present), Wicked (2015-present), Dreamgirls, UK Tour (2022), The Prince of Egypt (2021-2022), Chicago (2018), Aladdin (2016-2019), Heathers (2018), Ruthless! (2018), Annie (2017), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2016), Close To You: Bacharach Reimagined (2015-2016)