Michael Price (composer)

Michael Price is an 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 Price
Background information
BornYorkshire, England
GenresContemporary classical music
Occupation(s)Composer, musician
Years active1996–present
LabelsErased Tapes Records
Websitewww.michaelpricemusic.com

Personal life

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The son of physics and biology teachers,[1] Price studied music at school,[2] before starting his music career on the Tonmeister course at Surrey University,[3] where he won the PRS composition prize in 1990.

Early career

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After writing a number of scores for contemporary dance in his early 20s,[1][2][4] he became Musical Director of DNA Dance and Music, whose projects included the arts council funded chamber opera "All the Garden Gold", based on the life of William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelite movement.[5]

Film and television

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Prices's first film work was in 1996, when he was invited by Michael Kamen to orchestrate and program electronic sounds for the Paramount film Event Horizon. This led to a 5-year working relationship encompassing a number of film scores in London, LA and Prague, and concerts in Berlin, New York, San Francisco and Geneva.[1][6][7] Following the production of the score to Band of Brothers, Price was approached to music edit on The Fellowship of the Ring for New Line Cinema.[5]

Prior to work as a composer, Price worked as a music editor[6] with films including Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Richard Curtis' Love Actually, Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason and Nanny McPhee. 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, composing the scores for Just Jim in 2015 and Eternal Beauty in 2019. In television, recent successes include Age Before Beauty, Soulmates (TV series) and all four series of ITV's hit crime drama Unforgotten, the fourth of which premiered on 22 February 2021.

A frequent collaborator, Price often works with fellow composer David Arnold, most notably co-composing the music for all 13 episodes of Sherlock, the BBC television series created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, that premièred on BBC1 on 25 July 2010.[7] In 2015, they also co-composed the music for ITV's Jekyll and Hyde television series which premièred in October 2015.[8] Furthermore, Price has supported Arnold on film scores including Edgar Wright's Hot Fuzz, The Inbetweeners Movie and The Inbetweeners 2'.

In addition to composing for Zentropa's Dommeren and Slingshot Studios' Sugarhouse he scored two documentaries for producer and director Alfonso Cuarón; The Possibility of Hope, and Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine, both in 2007. Price met Cuarón when he scored additional music for the Academy Award winning feature Children of Men, working with Cuarón as music editor.

Solo career

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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 in 2012. Entanglement, his debut album (also on Erased Tapes) 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 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 sites. It's companion work 'Songs for Eveline' arrived in 2019.[9]

In 2021 Price released The Hope of Better Weather [10] a collection of 2012 piano recordings alongside new reworks by artists including Yann Tiersen, Bill Ryder-Jones, Eluvium_(musician) 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.[11]

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.[12]

Other information

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Price has worked with several music bodies and organisations, including PRS, BASCA and music charity Heart N Soul. In 2015 he was the chair of the BASCA Media Executive Committee and director of the BASCA board.[13]

Solo discography

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Albums

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2015 Entanglement (Erased Tapes Records)
2017 Diary (1631 Recordings)
2018 Diary Reworks (1631 Recordings)
2018 Tender Symmetry (Erased Tapes Records)
2021 The Hope of Better Weather (The Control Room)
2022 Whitsun (The Control Room)
2012 A Stillness (Erased Tapes Records)
2012 The Hope of Better Weather (The Control Room)
2014 Berlin 1-3 with Peter Gregson (The Control Room)
2019 Songs for Eveline (Erased Tapes Records)

Compilations

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2018 Erased Tapes 1+1=X (Erased Tapes Records)
2019 Music for Brainwaves (Erased Tapes Records)

Remixes / reworks

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2013 Editors - Marching Orders (Michael Price Rework)
2018 Fyfe & Iskra Strings - Arashiyama (Michael Price Remix)

Production

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1999 Metallica - S&M (Vertigo Records) (Technician)
2006 Coldcut - Sound Mirrors (Ninja Tune) (Arrangement & Collaborator)
2008 Dido - Safe Trip Home (RCA Records) (Orchestrator)

Film and television credits

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Film

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2002 Ashes & Sand
2003 LD50 Lethal Dose
2004 Some Things That Stay
2005 Dommeren (aka "The Judge")
2006 Eight Percent
2007 Dreamcatcher
2007 Blind Date (2007 film)
2007 The Possibility of Hope
2007 Sugarhouse (film)
2007 The Shock Doctrine
2008 Swan Song
2008 Agent Crush
2008 Wild Child
2009 7 Lives
2009 The Mountain Within
2010 Wild Target
2010 H. G. Wells' The First Men in the Moon
2010 Soul Flowers
2011 Island
2011 Horrid Henry: The Movie
2012 Cheerful Weather for the Wedding
2012 A Fantastic Fear of Everything
2012 My Brother Marvin
2013 Delicious
2013 Another Me
2014 The Inbetweeners 2
2014 Walter (2014 film)
2015 Just Jim (2015 film)
2016 Litterbugs
2018 Patrick (2018 film)
2019 Eternal Beauty

Television

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2008 Crooked House
2010 Sherlock (TV series) S1 (with David Arnold)
2012 Sherlock (TV series) S2 (with David Arnold)
2012 Mr Stink
2012 Beyond the Search
2013 Lightfields
2013 The Tractate Middoth
2013 Gangsta Granny
2013/14 Big School
2014 Sherlock (TV series) S3 (with David Arnold)
2015 Jekyll and Hyde (TV series)
2015 Unforgotten S1
2016 Sherlock (TV series) The Abominable Bride (with David Arnold)
2017 Unforgotten S2
2017 Sherlock (TV series) S4 (with David Arnold)
2018 Unforgotten S3
2018 Age Before Beauty
2020 Dracula (2020 TV series) (with David Arnold)
2020 Soulmates (TV series)
2021 Unforgotten S4
2022 Sister Boniface Mysteries

Music editor

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2001 Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring
2002 Insomnia
2002 The Time Machine
2002 The Truth About Charlie
2002 The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
2003 Love Actually
2002 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2004 Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (film)
2005 Goal!
2005 Nanny McPhee
2006 Flyboys
2006 Children of Men
2007 The Last Legion

Other credits

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1997 Event Horizon (Music Co-Producer)
1997 The Winter Guest (Music Co-Producer)
1998 From The Earth To The Moon (Music Co-Producer)
1998 What Dreams May Come (Music Co-Producer)
1999 The Iron Giant (Music Co-Producer)
2000 X-Men (Music Co-Producer)
2000 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (Music Co-Producer)
2001 Band Of Brothers (Music Co-Producer / Orchestrator / Conductor)
2006 The Da Vinci Code (Booth Reader)
2007 Hot Fuzz (Additional Music)
2008 Quantum of Solace (Additional Music arranger)

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "The Price of Art". Huffingtonpost.com. 15 April 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Music to Picture: An Interview with Composer Michael Price". Mid0nz.wordpress.com. 17 April 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  3. ^ "Forever Surrey - University of Surrey". Alumni.surrey.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  4. ^ "David Arnold and Michael Price talk about composing for "Sherlock"". Classicalmpr.org. 17 March 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  5. ^ a b "BBC Film Network". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  6. ^ a b "HitFix". Hitfix.com. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Interview: Michael Price - M Magazine". M-magazine.co.uk. 5 March 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  8. ^ "Michael Price Co-Scoring ITV's 'Jekyll & Hyde'". Film Music Reporter. 10 August 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  9. ^ "Erased Tapes - Artist - Michael Price". 3 December 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  10. ^ "The Hope of Better Weather". Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  11. ^ "ALBUM REVIEW: MICHAEL PRICE – WHITSUN". Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  12. ^ "Dates - Michael Price". Michaelpricemusic.com. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  13. ^ "Media Committee - BASCA - British Academy of Songwriters Composers and Authors". Basca.org.uk. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  14. ^ "Alan Silvestri, David Arnold & Michael Price Win Emmy Awards - Film Music Reporter". Hilmmusicreporter.com. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  15. ^ a b c d e "Awards - Michael Price". Michaelpricemusic.com. 15 September 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  16. ^ "Music+Sound Awards: 2013 Finalists". Archived from the original on 8 March 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  17. ^ UK, Televisual Media Ltd. "Televisual - HOMEPAGE". Televisual.com. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  18. ^ "RTS Craft & Design Awards 2009/2010 | Royal Television Society". 15 January 2014. Archived from the original on 15 January 2014.
  19. ^ Orlowski, Michael. "Home". Mpse.org. Archived from the original on 21 August 2010. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
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