One of Britain’s most innovative and celebrated composers, Michael Nyman’s work encompasses operas and string quartets, film soundtracks and orchestral concertos. In addition to his work as a composer, he’s also a performer, conductor, bandleader, pianist, author, musicologist, photographer and filmmaker. His most notable scores include a dozen Peter Greenaway films, such as The Draughtsman’s Contract and The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover; Neil Jordan’s The End Of The Affair; several Michael Winterbottom features including Wonderland and A Cock and Bull Story; the Hollywood blockbuster Gattaca, and Jane Campion’s 1993 film, The Piano, the soundtrack of which has sold more than three million copies. Most recently, his music was used in the 2009 BAFTA award-winning and Oscar-nominated film, Man on Wire.
Last year saw the premiere of a new documentary, Michael Nyman Composer In Progress, an intimate portrait of his artist life as a composer as well as his more recent work as a filmmaker and photographer.