Michael Price (composer)
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Michael Price is an
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
winning English composer and pianist. Prior to establishing himself as a composer, he held a number of roles within the TV & film music field such as producer, arranger and music editor, much of which whilst working alongside acclaimed film score composer
Michael Kamen Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, and session musician. Biography Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was born in ...
.


Personal life

The son of physics and biology teachers, Price studied music at school, before starting his music career on the
Tonmeister Tonmeister is most often found as a job description in the music and recording industries. It describes a person who is a sound master (a literal translation of the German word): a person who creates recordings or broadcasts of music who is both d ...
course at
Surrey University The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its royal charter in 1966, along with a number of other institutions following recommendations in the Robbins Report. The instituti ...
, where he won the PRS composition prize in 1990.


Early career

After writing a number of scores for
contemporary dance Contemporary dance is a genre of dance performance that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly strong popularity in ...
in his early 20s, he became Musical Director of DNA Dance and Music, whose projects included the arts council funded
chamber opera Chamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra. Early 20th-century operas of this type include Paul Hindemith's ''Cardillac'' (1926). Earlier small-scale operas such as Pergoles ...
"All the Garden Gold", based on the life of
William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...
and the
Pre-Raphaelite movement The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...
.


Film and television

Prices's first film work was in 1996, when he was invited by
Michael Kamen Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, and session musician. Biography Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was born in ...
to orchestrate and program electronic sounds for the
Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
film ''
Event Horizon In astrophysics, an event horizon is a boundary beyond which events cannot affect an observer. Wolfgang Rindler coined the term in the 1950s. In 1784, John Michell proposed that gravity can be strong enough in the vicinity of massive compact obj ...
''. This led to a 5-year working relationship encompassing a number of
film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...
s in London, LA and
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
, and concerts in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, New York, San Francisco and
Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
. Following the production of the score to '' Band of Brothers'', Price was approached to music edit on ''
The Fellowship of the Ring ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' is the first of three volumes of the epic novel ''The Lord of the Rings'' by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It is followed by ''The Two Towers'' and ''The Return of the King''. It takes place in the fiction ...
'' for
New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after acq ...
. Prior to work as a composer, Price worked as a music editor with films including
Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...
's ''
The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...
'' trilogy,
Richard Curtis Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis (born 8 November 1956) is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, producer and film director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known primarily for romantic comedy films, among them '' ...
' ''
Love Actually ''Love Actually'' is a 2003 Christmas romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. It features an ensemble cast, composed predominantly of British actors, many of whom had worked with Curtis in previous film and television proje ...
'', '' Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason'' and ''
Nanny McPhee ''Nanny McPhee'' is a 2005 comedy drama fantasy film based on the Nurse Matilda character by Christianna Brand. It was directed by Kirk Jones, coproduced by StudioCanal, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Working Title Films, Three Strange Angel ...
''. As a music editor, Michael has been nominated for 4 MPSE Golden Reel Awards, winning in 2001 for ''Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring''. Price has, to date scored 31 films, increasingly focussing on contemporary drama productions. Recent highlights include his partnership with acclaimed Welsh director
Craig Roberts Craig Haydn Roberts (born 21 January 1991) is a Welsh actor and director. He is best known for lead roles as Oliver Tate in the coming-of-age comedy-drama film '' Submarine'' (2010) and David Meyers in the series ''Red Oaks'' (2014–2017), and ...
, composing the scores for Just Jim in 2015 and
Eternal Beauty ''Eternal Beauty'' is a 2019 dark comedy film written and directed by Craig Roberts. It stars Sally Hawkins, David Thewlis, Billie Piper, Penelope Wilton, Alice Lowe and Robert Aramayo. It had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festiv ...
in 2019. In television, recent successes include
Age Before Beauty ''Age Before Beauty'' is a BBC television drama series by Debbie Horsfield that premiered on BBC One on 31 July 2018. The six-part series is based in Manchester, England, and stars Robson Green, Sue Johnston, Polly Walker and James Murray. Plo ...
,
Soulmates (TV series) ''Soulmates'' is an American science fiction television anthology series created by William Bridges and Brett Goldstein. ''Soulmates'' premiered on AMC on October 5, 2020. In August 2020, the series was renewed for a second season, ahead of the ...
and all four series of
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
's hit crime drama
Unforgotten ''Unforgotten'' is a British crime drama television series, which initially aired on ITV on 8 October 2015. It was created and written by Chris Lang and directed by Andy Wilson. The programme follows a team of London detectives led by DCI Cas ...
, the fourth of which premiered on 22 February 2021. A frequent collaborator, Price often works with fellow composer
David Arnold David Arnold (born 23 January 1962) is a British film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films, as well as ''Stargate'' (1994), '' Independence Day'' (1996), ''Godzilla'' (1998) and the television series '' Little Britain'' ...
, most notably co-composing the music for all 13 episodes of '' Sherlock'', the BBC television series created by
Steven Moffat Steven William Moffat (; born 18 November 1961) is a Scottish television writer, television producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work as showrunner, writer and executive producer of the science fiction television series ''Doct ...
and
Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. His work includes writing for and acting in the television series ''Doctor Who'', '' Sherlock'', and '' Dracula''. Together with ...
, that premièred on BBC1 on 25 July 2010. In 2015, they also co-composed the music for ITV's ''
Jekyll and Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old ...
'' television series which premièred in October 2015. Furthermore, Price has supported Arnold on film scores including
Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zooms and a ...
's ''
Hot Fuzz ''Hot Fuzz'' is a 2007 action comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg. Starring Pegg, Nick Frost, Timothy Dalton, and Jim Broadbent, the film centres on two police officers investigating a series of mysteriou ...
'', ''The Inbetweeners Movie'' and ''The Inbetweeners 2'. In addition to composing for
Zentropa Zentropa, or Zentropa Entertainments, is a Danish film company started in 1992 by director Lars von Trier and producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen. Zentropa is named after the train company Zentropa in the film ''Europa'' (1991), which started the colla ...
's ''Dommeren'' and Slingshot Studios' '' Sugarhouse'' he scored two documentaries for producer and director
Alfonso Cuarón Alfonso Cuarón Orozco ( , ; born 28 November 1961) is a Mexican filmmaker. He is known for directing films in a variety of genres including the family drama ''A Little Princess (1995 film), A Little Princess'' (1995), the romantic drama ''Gre ...
; ''
The Possibility of Hope ''Children of Men'' is a 2006 dystopian action thriller film co-written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón. The screenplay, based on P. D. James' 1992 novel '' The Children of Men'', was credited to five writers, with Clive Owen making uncredi ...
'', and
Naomi Klein Naomi A. Klein (born May 8, 1970) is a Canadian author, social activist, and filmmaker known for her political analyses, support of ecofeminism, organized labour, left-wing politics and criticism of corporate globalization, fascism, ecofascism ...
's ''
The Shock Doctrine ''The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism'' is a 2007 book by the Canadian author and social activist Naomi Klein. In the book, Klein argues that neoliberal free market policies (as advocated by the economist Milton Friedman) have ri ...
'', both in 2007. Price met Cuarón when he scored additional music for the
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
winning feature ''
Children of Men ''Children of Men'' is a 2006 dystopian action thriller film co-written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón. The screenplay, based on P. D. James' 1992 novel '' The Children of Men'', was credited to five writers, with Clive Owen making uncredi ...
'', working with Cuarón as music editor.


Solo career

Michael's first work to be released outside of the realms of film and television was a collection of four string quartet pieces 'A Stillness' which was released on
Erased Tapes Erased Tapes Records is a London-based independent record label focusing on releasing avant-garde and experimental electronic music. History The record company was established by Robert Raths in early 2007 in London, with the release of Ryan ...
in 2012. Entanglement, his debut album (also on
Erased Tapes Erased Tapes Records is a London-based independent record label focusing on releasing avant-garde and experimental electronic music. History The record company was established by Robert Raths in early 2007 in London, with the release of Ryan ...
) was released in 2015, fulfilled Michael's long-term desire to explore new musical territories, featuring Michael on the piano, with the addition of cello, soprano voice, string orchestra, modular synth, tape effects and electronics. This was followed by Diary, 30 improvisations for solo piano, released on 1631 Recordings, and swiftly followed by his second
Erased Tapes Erased Tapes Records is a London-based independent record label focusing on releasing avant-garde and experimental electronic music. History The record company was established by Robert Raths in early 2007 in London, with the release of Ryan ...
album Tender Symmetry in 2018. Tender Symmetry is a collection of orchestral and vocal works created in response to, and recorded within 7 distinctive and evocative
National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
sites. It's companion work 'Songs for Eveline' arrived in 2019. In 2021 Price released The Hope of Better Weather a collection of 2012 piano recordings alongside new reworks by artists including
Yann Tiersen Yann Tiersen (born 23 June 1970) is a French Breton musician and composer. His musical career is split between studio recordings, music collaborations and film soundtracks songwriting. His music incorporates a large variety of classical and c ...
,
Bill Ryder-Jones William Edward Ryder-Jones (born 10 August 1983) is an English singer-songwriter, musician, music producer and composer from West Kirby, Merseyside. He co-founded the band The Coral, together with James Skelly, Lee Southall, Paul Duffy, and Ian ...
,
Eluvium_(musician) Eluvium is the moniker of the American ambient recording artist Matthew Cooper, who resides in Portland, Oregon. Cooper, who was born in Tennessee and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, before relocating to the Northwest, is known for blending va ...
and Malibu as well as a duet with Peter Gregson (cellist). The Hope of Better Weather was followed in 2022 by Whitsun, a new album of contemporary compositions centred around the Klavins Una Corda piano. In the live sphere Michael has performed as a pianist solo as well as with the ‘Michael Price Trio and Ensemble’ at venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, London, Kings Place, London, Union Chapel, London, the Casa da Musica, Porto, Reeperbahn Festival, Hamburg, and the Stadsschouwburg in Leuven.


Other information

Price has worked with several music bodies and organisations, including PRS,
BASCA The Ivors Academy (formerly the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors – BASCA) is one of the largest professional associations for music writers in Europe. The academy exists to support, protect, and campaign for the interests ...
and music charity Heart N Soul. In 2015 he was the chair of the BASCA Media Executive Committee and director of the BASCA board.


Solo discography


Albums


EPs


Compilations


Remixes / reworks


Production


Film and television credits


Film


Television


Music editor


Other credits


Awards

* Won: (with
David Arnold David Arnold (born 23 January 1962) is a British film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films, as well as ''Stargate'' (1994), '' Independence Day'' (1996), ''Godzilla'' (1998) and the television series '' Little Britain'' ...
)
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie, or a Special This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special. Starting in 2019, the category recognizes scripted programs. Unscripted programs compete for ...
- '' Sherlock'' ("
His Last Vow "His Last Vow" is the third episode of the third series of the BBC Television series '' Sherlock'', which follows the modern-day adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The episode was first broadcast on 12 January 2014, on BBC One and Channel One. It w ...
") * Won: (with
David Arnold David Arnold (born 23 January 1962) is a British film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films, as well as ''Stargate'' (1994), '' Independence Day'' (1996), ''Godzilla'' (1998) and the television series '' Little Britain'' ...
) Music and Sound Award 2013 for Best Original Composition in a Television Programme - '' Sherlock'' (Season 2) * Won: (with
David Arnold David Arnold (born 23 January 1962) is a British film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films, as well as ''Stargate'' (1994), '' Independence Day'' (1996), ''Godzilla'' (1998) and the television series '' Little Britain'' ...
) Televisual Bulldog Award 2013 for Best Music - '' Sherlock'' (Season 2) * Won: (with
David Arnold David Arnold (born 23 January 1962) is a British film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films, as well as ''Stargate'' (1994), '' Independence Day'' (1996), ''Godzilla'' (1998) and the television series '' Little Britain'' ...
) 2010 Royal Television Award for Original Title - '' Sherlock'' (Season 1) * Won:
MPSE Motion Picture Sound Editors (M.P.S.E.) is an American honorary society of motion picture sound editors founded in 1953. The society's goals are to educate others about and increase the recognition of the sound editors, show the artistic merit o ...
Golden Reel Award 2001 for Music Editor - '' The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring''


References


External links


Michael Price official website

HotHouse Music
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Michael Alumni of the University of Surrey English composers English male composers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Erased Tapes Records artists