Michael Nyman

Michael Nyman is undoubtedly one of the UK’s most innovative and celebrated composers. His reputation is built upon a substantial body of work written for a wide variety of ensembles, not only for his band but also for symphony orchestra, choir, and string quartet. In addition to his prolific output as a composer, Nyman is also a conductor, pianist, writer, musicologist, photographer, and filmmaker - his restless creativity and multi-faceted career making him one of the most dynamic and influential figures in contemporary culture. Born in Stratford, East London on 23 March 1944, he was educated at the Sir George Monoux Grammar School, Walthamstow, and studied at the Royal Academy of Music from 1961 to 1964. Between 1964 and 1967, Nyman was a Ph.D. student at King’s College, London under Thurston Dart, studying English baroque music and the principles of scholarly editing, producing the first modern edition of Purcell’s Catches (Stainer and Bell, 1967) and a new edition of Handel’s Concerti Grossi, Op.6 (Eulenberg, 1973). He spent the academic year 1965/6 as a British Council exchange student collecting folk music in Romania. Nyman has also enjoyed a highly successful career as a film composer, a role in which, somewhat to his regret, he is best known to the general public. His reputation was established through a series of highly successful scores for films directed by Peter Greenaway, including The Draughtsman’s Contract, Prospero’s Works, A Zed and Two Naughts, and The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover. Other scores include Neil Jordan’s The End Of The Affair; Michael Winterbottom’s Wonderland, A Cock And Bull Story, and The Trip, Andrew Niccol’s Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster Gattaca (1997), and his enchanting music for Jane Campion’s 1993 film, The Piano, the soundtrack album of which has sold more than three million copies. His music was used in the BAFTA award-winning and Oscar-nominated film, Man on Wire, whilst his score for Erasing David was awarded Best Original Soundtrack at The London East End Film Festival. Nyman’s subsequent large-scale film project War Work: 8 Songs with Film, commissioned by the War on Screen International Film Festival to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the First World War, is a powerful and moving evocation of the horrors of war. The film draws together rare archive film material of the devastating trauma and destructive power of war on those who bore the impact of conflict and battle, with imagery by painters and artists who were both witnesses and victims. In addition to his composing and filmmaking activities, Nyman has a full international touring schedule with the Michael Nyman Band as well as a series of unique one-off performances with a variety of collaborators, including musicians from outside the western/classical/experimental traditions. Michael was awarded the CBE for services to British music in 2008. His music has been released by Virgin, EMI, Decca, Warner Classics, and Sony and is now represented exclusively by his record label, MN Records, and published by Chester Music Limited.

Festival Internacional de Cine de Monterrey