Speaker

Rachel Portman

Rachel Portman began composing at the age of 14 and read music at the University of Oxford. She gained experience writing music for drama for BBC and Channel 4 films, including ‘Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit’, Mike Leigh's ‘Four Days In July’ and Jim Henson's ‘Storyteller’ series.

Since then, Portman has written over 100 scores for film, television and theatre, including ‘Oliver Twist’ by Roman Polanski, ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ by Jonathan Demme, ‘One Day’ by Lone Scherfig, ‘The Lake House’ by Alejandro Agresti, ‘Never Let Me Go’ by Mark Romanek, ‘The Legend of Bagger Vance’ by Robert Redford or ‘Mona Lisa Smile’ by Mike Newell. Most recently Portman wrote the score for the documentary ‘Julia’ which chronicles the life of TV chef and author Julia Child and was released in 2021.

‘The fact that I am a woman never stopped me‘ Rachel Portman told the SWR. In 1997, she became the first female composer to win an Academy Award, which she received for the score of Jane Austen’s classic ‘Emma’. She was also the first female composer to win a Primetime Emmy Award, which she received for ‘Bessie’ by Dee Rees. She has received two further Academy Nominations for ‘The Cider House Rules’ and ‘Chocolat’ by Lasse Hallström, which also earned her a Golden Globe Nomination as well as Bafta nominations for ‘Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit’ and ‘The Woman in Black’.

As the winner of the SoundTrack_Cologne Lifetime Achievement Award, Rachel Portman joins the ranks of many renowned prize winners such as Craig Armstrong, Bruce Broughton, Cliff Martinez, Michael Nyman, Irmin Schmidt, Peter Thomas, Klaus Doldinger or Don Davis.

Ali N. Askin

Ali N. Askin composes, produces and performs music in the most diverse genres, styles and formats. He has composed for concert halls as well as for films. Electronic music, jazz tunes and club tracks are as much a part of his works and productions as concert music and music theatre. As a musician (keyboards, electronics), he has been active in a variety of projects and bands. In the early 90s he became known internationally through his work as an arranger and assistant for Frank Zappa & Ensemble Modern (The Yellow Shark, Greggery Peccary And Other Persuasions). For over 20 years he has been a successful film composer for German and International TV and movies. In 2008 he received the German Film Academy Award ("Lola") for Best Filmscore for the movie "Leroy". Recent film scores include "Dogs of Berlin" and "Barbarians" (both Netflix).

Michael P. Aust

Michael P. Aust heads SoundTrack_Cologne since the very beginning in 2004. Since 2014 he is Festival Director of Braunschweig International Filmfestival, too. Michael works in the film industry for more than 20 years with producer credits for 16 feature films and feature length documentaries (e.g. 101 REYKJAVIK, LOW LIGHTS, PARALLAX SOUNDS, EVA HESSE). He is managing director and producer at TelevisorTroika GmbH, a Cologne based company for film production, events and public relations in arts, that Michael founded in 1993.

Michael curates exhibitions and festivals e.g. DuKunst Media Art Festival 1992, Klangvisionen sound art exhibition 1994, StadtKlangNetz conference on cultural education 2007-2014, European Film Music Day at Cannes Film Festival 2009 - 2016, the highly successful The Art of Pop Video exhibition (MAKK Cologne 2011, Odessa Art Center 2012, Liverpool FACT 2013), Next Level Conference on video games 2012, PLAY!CGN on video games in art 2013 , Hostile Sisters - Interdependencies of Theatre and Film conference 2016.

Nicolas Becker

Nicolas Becker is an internationally renowned foley artist, sound designer and composer. He tries to find an original process for each project or film, and tries to develop an original and unique working process. He has collaborated with filmmakers including Amos Gitai, Roman Polanski, David Cronenberg, Chris Nolan, Guillermo Del Toro, Mathieu Kassovitz, Andrea Arnold, Alain Resnais, Gaspard Noe, Chantal Akerman, Raoul Ruiz, Christophe Gans, Danny Boyle, Philippe Parreno, Marco Ferreri, Alex Garland, Alfonso Cuarón, Manoel De Oliveira, Joao Salgado, Gerard Depardon, Philippe Grandrieux, Darius Marder, Andrea Arnold, Jean Stephane Sauvaire, Denis Villeneuve, Pascual Sisto and many others.

As a composer, he has just completed the Music of MEMORYHOUSE by Joao Paulo Maria Miranda, EARWIG by Lucile Hadzihalilovic and COMME DES REINES by Marion Vernoux. During his musical projects, he collaborates regularly with Rob Aiki, Aubrey Lowe, Lucie Railton, Mikhail Rudy, Agoria, Jacques, Quentin Sirjacq and the Soundwalk collective with which he has just finished 2 albums with Patti Smith, The revelation of Being and Pedaram. His meeting with the conceptual artist Philippe Parreno twelve years ago opened up to the world of sound installation and Sound Art. Since 2009, he has been responsible for sound design and musical direction for all of Philippe Parreno's exhibitions around the world, including a permanent sound installation installed at the MoMA (N.Y) and another at the Luma foundation. Always in collaboration with Philippe Parreno he prepares an opera whose libretto is written by Ted Chiang and the music is composed by Marko Nikodijevic. During his work with Parreno, with the help of Ircam, Stanford university and Bronze AI, he did a lot of research on new practices for the production of sound and musical forms using machine learning, AI, augmented composition, sonification of data. He works on the hybridization of sound work with biological entities for the realization of evolving sound systems. He collaborates with other artists like Tomas Saraceno, Pierre Huygues, Carlos Casas, Emma Critchley, Thomas Piper, Piet Oudolf, Clément Cogitore, Maider Fortuné, Laura Sellies. For several years now, his work as a sound supervisor has become increasingly important. First with Christophe Gans (SILENT HILL) and Andrea Arnold (WUTHERING HEIGHTS, AMERICAN HONEY, COW) then since 2019 with Darius Marder (SOUND OF METAL), Mantas Kvedaravičius (PARTHENON), Pascual Sisto (JOHN AND THE HOLE).

In 2021 Nicolas Becker wins an Academy Award and a BAFTAaward for his work as sound designer and sound supervisor for the film SOUND OF METAL.

Nicolas Becker is an internationally renowned foley artist, sound designer and composer. He tries to find an original process for each project or film, and tries to develop an original and unique working process. He has collaborated with filmmakers including Amos Gitai, Roman Polanski, David Cronenberg, Chris Nolan, Guillermo Del Toro, Mathieu Kassovitz, Andrea Arnold, Alain Resnais, Gaspard Noe, Chantal Akerman, Raoul Ruiz, Christophe Gans, Danny Boyle, Philippe Parreno, Marco Ferreri, Alex Garland, Alfonso Cuarón, Manoel De Oliveira, Joao Salgado, Gerard Depardon, Philippe Grandrieux, Darius Marder, Andrea Arnold, Jean Stephane Sauvaire, Denis Villeneuve, Pascual Sisto and many others.

As a composer, he has just completed the Music of MEMORYHOUSE by Joao Paulo Maria Miranda, EARWIG by Lucile Hadzihalilovic and COMME DES REINES by Marion Vernoux. During his musical projects, he collaborates regularly with Rob Aiki, Aubrey Lowe, Lucie Railton, Mikhail Rudy, Agoria, Jacques, Quentin Sirjacq and the Soundwalk collective with which he has just finished 2 albums with Patti Smith, The revelation of Being and Pedaram. His meeting with the conceptual artist Philippe Parreno twelve years ago opened up to the world of sound installation and Sound Art. Since 2009, he has been responsible for sound design and musical direction for all of Philippe Parreno's exhibitions around the world, including a permanent sound installation installed at the MoMA (N.Y) and another at the Luma foundation. Always in collaboration with Philippe Parreno he prepares an opera whose libretto is written by Ted Chiang and the music is composed by Marko Nikodijevic. During his work with Parreno, with the help of Ircam, Stanford university and Bronze AI, he did a lot of research on new practices for the production of sound and musical forms using machine learning, AI, augmented composition, sonification of data. He works on the hybridization of sound work with biological entities for the realization of evolving sound systems. He collaborates with other artists like Tomas Saraceno, Pierre Huygues, Carlos Casas, Emma Critchley, Thomas Piper, Piet Oudolf, Clément Cogitore, Maider Fortuné, Laura Sellies. For several years now, his work as a sound supervisor has become increasingly important. First with Christophe Gans (SILENT HILL) and Andrea Arnold (WUTHERING HEIGHTS, AMERICAN HONEY, COW) then since 2019 with Darius Marder (SOUND OF METAL), Mantas Kvedaravičius (PARTHENON), Pascual Sisto (JOHN AND THE HOLE).

In 2021 Nicolas Becker wins an Academy Award and a BAFTA award for his work as sound designer and sound supervisor for the film SOUND OF METAL.

Jean-Michel Bernard

Jean-Michel Bernard  is a French pianist, composer, educator, orchestrator, and music producer. He is well known for regularly writing, performing, and scoring for films, such as The Science of Sleep, Hugo, Paris-Manhattan, Ca$h, and Be Kind Rewind.

He began playing the piano at the age of two and has collaborated with Claude Chabrol, Ray Charles, Lalo Schifrin, Ennio Morricone, Francis Veber, Etienne Chatiliez, Fanny Ardant, Michel Gondry (Human nature, The Science of Sleep, Be Kind Rewind..) and Martin Scorsese (Hugo Cabret) among others.

He created the class for film music composition at the Paris Conservatory and has most recently scored Gela Babluani’s film « Money » which won the Grand Prix at the Brussels Film Festival 2018, his score for “Ballad for a pierced heart” (2020) by Yannis Economides has been nominated for the Greek Iris by the Greek cinema Academy.

He received the 2017 SACEM Grand Prix for film music and has just been officially designated « Steinway Artist. »  and he will be a Sony Masterworks artist in 2022 (album release in may 22)

As a Steinway artist, he travels around the world with his film music piano concert.

« I love him because he’s better than me! This guy is a genius, in my mind. » (Ray Charles)

« I cannot find words to reflect my admiration for his genius. » (Lalo Schifrin)

Volker Bertelmann aka Hauschka

What role does music play in film? How can sound enhance a visual experience? And when does the plot need a moment of silence to really take effect? From cinema to series, the composer Volker Bertelmann has imbued numerous productions with his special brand of empathetic and suspenseful sound. One of the best examples of his nuanced work is in Garth Davis' drama "Lion" (2016), whose film score, written together with the composer Dustin O’Halloran, was nominated for an Oscar.

Bertelmann draws from a large artistic reservoir for his film compositions. He has been creating experimental soundscapes in his studio in Düsseldorf for many years under the pseudonym Hauschka. Sometimes he prepares his grand piano with foreign objects, sometimes he builds electronically distorted sound structures, and sometimes he explores the puristic beauty of the piano. His is an innovative oeuvre that has led to numerous collaborations, for example with violinist Hilary Hahn.

Dagmar Blume-Niehage

Dagmar was a speaker at the very first Soundtrack_Cologne and subsequently helped the Congress to develop and to grow as Project Manager. She is also Producer/Owner of the Cologne-based production company dagstarfilm.

With ten years experience in the industry, holding positions as producer, production manager, postproduction supervisor, Dagmar Niehage started her own production company dagstarfilm in 2006, which produces children-, teen- and family features as well as high-quality international films and documentaries with a special emphasis on young European cinema.

With dagstar*film she produced and co-produced ten feature films and documentaries. Credits include the road-movie Low Lights (Germany/Lithuania), which participated at more than 30 festivals and which was awarded a Silver Crane for Best Film in Lithuania 2009.

In July 2012 the German family movie Pattys Catchup (aka Pommes essen) was released in German cinemas by FarbfilmVerleih, Free-TV premiere in 2014 at ARD.

Dagmar Blume-Niehage was also responsible as producer for the documentary Stumbling Block released in Germany 2008 and for the documentary Parallax Sounds (Troika/Cineparalleli, funded by Filmstiftung NRW) released in 2013.

The German-Lithuanian documentary Liebe Oma, guten Tag (funded by Film-and Medienstiftung NRW, FFA, Lithuanian Filmcenter) successfully screened at the Nordische Filmtage Luebeck, Dokfest Kassel and other festivals.

In post-production is the children bestseller adaptation My Life As Lotta (aka Mein Lotta-Leben) (funded by Film- and Medienstiftung NRW, FFF Bayern, FFA, BKM, DFFF) distributed by Wild Bunch Germany. Cinema Release 29 August 2019.

Dagmar Blume-Niehage is member of the German Film Academy and member of the Filmbuero NW.

Helge Borgarts

Helge Borgarts is a German composer for games, film and television. He started his career with Blue Byte Software, the developer and publisher of famous games like the Settlers, Battle Isle or Extreme Assault. From 2006 to 2013 he was CEO of phenomedia publishing gmbh, one of Germany’s best-known developers and publishers of computer- and videogames, famous for the brand “Moorhuhn”. During that time he produced and/or scored more than 25 games for all important gaming platforms.
Since 2013 he is working as a freelancing composer and since 2011 Helge is the program manager for games music at the renowned festival and conference for music in film and media Soundtrack_Cologne. He was speaker at events like the Transatlantyk 2013 Poznan International Film and Music Festival or the Austria Film Music Day, is a regular lecturer at German universities and produces video games music concerts, e.g. with the Young Classic Sound Orchestra or the WDR Funkhausorchester.

Working in the media industry for more than 15 years, he was involved in several projects as a composer and producer. He wrote music for films like the Silver Screen Award winning movie “Seven” from Revanth Korukonda and for television documentaries like “Everyday life in space - life on the ISS” or “The Ghost Hunters”. Helge scored trailers for developers and publishers like Crytek, Stratotainment or Higgs Games. He wrote and scored the orchestral soundtrack for the video game “Jade Rousseau – The Final Revelations” and produced and contributed music to the game “Tiger & Chicken”, which was awarded as Best Mobile Core Game at the German Developer Awards. He also scored the latest game of that brand “Crazy Chicken Strikes Back” and provided the music for the games “Bring Them Home” and “Transroad”, the latter developed by the award-winning team from Deck13. With his partner Thomas Stanger he founded the brand “BowsToHymns” which contributed music for companies like Spitfire Audio, Warner/Chappell Music Production, SPM Music Group, Trailer Brigade, Orchestral Tools or Steinberg. Their latest scores were for the highly acclaimed games “The Surge – The Good, the Bad and the Augmented” and “The Surge 2”.

Helge works in Mülheim an der Ruhr and Cologne.

Léo Boudet

A childhood immersed in the artistic world, Leo started art school, specialized in graphic design, after he passed his scientific degree.

Being a musician, he co-ran an electronic music label and managed cultural events in Lyon, France. His graphic design abilities also allowed him to create visual identities and posters for great event structures in Paris.

But in the end, it's in the audiovisual field he naturally feels free. He started directing short films and music videos for his music label which led him to meet Prelight Films in 2014. He started working on the In the Tracks of Series as an editor and operator first, and then as a director. After these years full of experiences, he decides to create his own company : Yellow Bandini Production.

Lelie Cristea

Lelie Cristea is a classical violinist and recording artist for soundtracks, filmscores and commercials. Despite her classical education, Lelie combines different genres in her repertoire to make curious for the unknown. Besides her concerts and CD productions, she is contributing on a regular basis for tv, film, video games and commercials both as a studio musician and remotely from her recording studio.

Lelie has recorded solo violin and viola for composer Pedro Macedo Camacho’s scores on Star Citizen and World of Warcraft – Shadowlands. Her violin playing can be heard in the sound design of Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur commercial composed by Karin Pallier from Staub Audio. She also contributed solo violin and viola for composer Chris Köbke for the movie The ugly truth which was premiered recently.

Lorenz Dangel

Lorenz Dangel studied double bass, film composition and classical composition in Berlin, Munich and London.
Triggered by the need to experience music in its various functional and expressive possibilities, Dangel has consciously chosen a broad creative field.
Both in his concertante works and in his theatre projects, his affinity for narrative becomes clear.
At the same time, his roots in classical music and curiosity about the experimental influence his work in the field of film music.
His music is characterised by the ability to move between these genres.

Filmography (selection)

"Hell" directed by Tim Fehlbaum (German Film Award 2012).

"Ich und Kaminski" by Wolfgang Becker

"Lykke Per" by Bille August

"Deutschstunde" by Christian Schwochow

Anna Ditges

As a writer and director, Anna Ditges has accompanied people from the widest range of social classes and cultural backgrounds in their everyday lives. Her award-winning
documentary films have met with enthusiastic audiences in German cinemas and at international festivals.
Anna Ditges graduated in Directing from the Academy of Media Arts Cologne and has dedicated herself for many years to fictional screenwriting. In 2019, she completed the renowned one-year advanced study programme at the Drehbuchwerkstatt München.
2020–2021 Anna Ditges is developing her feature film debut as part of the Mentoring-Programme, Into the Wild.
She is also training her directing and performance directing skills under Mark Travis in Los Angeles and participating in his Director's Lab, a 16-week international study programme for selected directors.

"It is a stroke of luck that Anna Ditges trusts in the power of her images and captures scenes with an inquisitive gaze that do not need words." (Süddeutsche Zeitung)

Valerie Dobbelaere

Valerie Dobbelaere studied Iberian linguistics & literature as well as Peace Studies and ConflictResolution at the Ghent University in Belgium. In 2007 Valerie started working at the guest office of Film Fest Gent, where she, between 2010 and 2019,coordinates the music and sound projects (concert productions, masterclasses, compositioncontest, the annual World Soundtrack Awards, album recording, industry events, internationalcollaborations,..)and loves establishing the necessary platform to both established and young & upcoming film (music) talent. Valerie has worked with several renowned composers such as Howard Shore, Hans Zimmer, Elliot Goldenthal, James Newton Howard, Alberto Iglesias, Giorgio Moroder and Alexandre Desplat. Since 2017 Valerie joined Post Bills, a Brussels-based Press & Communication Agency, specializing in PR for film, TV & film music projects.

René Dohmen

René Dohmen is part of DÜRBECK & DOHMEN.

As DÜRBECK & DOHMEN we compose music for film & television, series, documentaries, theatre, commercials and games. Our work covers a lot of ground - from classical songwriting to electronic music - as well as orchestral and abstractexperimental film scores. Whatever project we're working on, we are always pursuing new ways and ideas to express ourselves. We often try and experiment with unusual and sometimes strange sounding instruments, creating new and unique sounds. That is the reason why we started to create our own instrument libraries CINEMATIQUE INSTRUMENTS (www.cinematique-instruments.com).

Inside our Cologne-based studios, we have been producing music for more than 70 motion pictures and TV shows since 2000.

Our muscial life began as teenagers, playing in bands. Over the course of 8 years we released 3 albums with EMI Germany. We played over 400 gigs in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. After the band split up, we started our own company and studio, writing and producing music for films. Since then we have been writing scores for numerous films and documentaries.

DÜRBECK & DOHMEN are members of the „German Film Academy“, the „European Film Academy and the „Academy of German Music Authors.

2017 he received the „German Music Authors Price“.

Dr. Yati Durant

Dr. Yati Durant is a U.S. born composer, lecturer, trumpeter and conductor. His musical background began with composition and jazz music from the age of 7. He was a founding member of the experimental jazz ensemble Honey Junkie and The Yati Durant Project Band in the 1990s. He studied with Portland trumpeter (and Grammy winner) Thara Memory before moving to New York, where he began a successful stint as a TV and film music composer. Yati holds a Diploma and prestigious Konzertexam Meisterklasse in composition from the Polish composer Krzysztof Meyer at the State Conservatory of Music in Cologne, Germany, as well as a Diploma in Electronic Composition under Hans Ulrich Humpert. He has also studied with George Crumb, Philip Lasser, Narcis Bonet, Lee Konitz and conducting with Jonathan Brett. From 2010 - 2019 Yati was a Lecturer and Programme Director of the MSc Composition for Screen Programme at the University of Edinburgh. His compositions and films have received many prizes from International festivals, including a 3rd Pl. Panorama Public Prize at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival for Erika Rabau – Der Puck von Berlin and a BAFA National Commerce Film Award nomination for the WDR/ARD documentary Ein Klavier geht um die Welt.
He is a finalist of the 2009 Concorso Giovani Musicisti Europei in Aosta, Italy with his score to C. Chaplin’s The Vagabond. His contemporary compositions have been commissioned and performed in New York, Seattle, Berlin, Edinburgh, Cologne and Sao Paolo, released on CD and DVD by Film Dienst/Normal Records, Filmmuseum München and he remains an active performer of jazz, with regular appearances and recordings throughout Europe and USA. His TV and Film credits include work for WDR, ARD, HBO, MTV, Disney and many others.

André Feldhaus

Born in Münster, André Feldhaus began his musical education on the piano. In the 1990s he founded the German punk band Mother‘s Ruin, an outfit which toured and released singles and albums. During his studies in Liverpool and Bremen he started composing music for films and formed collaborations with up and coming directors. After his graduation in German Studies and Film Studies he started to work as a freelance composer. Since then, he has contributed to the scores for nearly 120 films, including major television work and cinema releases, among them 4 Könige which won the Deutsche Filmpreis in Bronze in 2016, Die Hände meiner Mutter, Nordstrand and the popular German television series Tatort.

Milena Fessmann

Since 1991, Milena Fessmann has worked as a full-time DJ (2001-2014 Radio Eins After Work Lounge, Trompete/Berlin, European Film Awards 2015 etc.) and has worked for various radio stations. Since 1997 she works for Radio Eins/RBB and her own weekly show called "Free Falling".

In 1989 she founded CINESONG. She is moderator of several national events and panels such as the "Cartoon Movie Award"/Postdam 2002-2008, Reeperbahn-Festival 2014-21, c/o pop Cologne 2014-2021 and many more. Milena Fessmann teaches music supervising and copyright clearing at film schools such as DFFB Berlin and is advisory board member of the World Soundtrack Academy. She founded a film production company called Sugar Town Filmproduction Gmbh & Co.kg in 2011. The first project was "The Potential of Noise- Conny Plank" by Stephan Plank and Reto Caduff. She is executive-producer of "When Hitler stole Pink Rabbit", directed by award winning director Caroline Link and is co-producer on "Evaluation", "Girl made of Dust", Director: Hiam Abbass, “Prince of swans” and a few more.
Her newest documentary Project is called “ Jung kaput spart Altersheime”, directed by Christine Franz about female punk and new wave in german speaking territory from 1979-89 which is currently in pre-production.

Jonathan Feurich

Jonathan is a music recording and mix engineer from Berlin, Germany who specializes in film scores. Starting his professional career in 2010 he was able to choose the ‘tape op route’ by working full time as pro tools operator and assistant engineer for the scoring stage of Film Orchestra Babelsberg until 2015.
In 2013 he began taking on more recording and mixing duties and in the years to come he was able to work with a variety of highly established national and international clients, among them Ryuichi Sakamoto, A.R. Rahman and ClintonShorter.
Today, with well over 60 film scores mixed or recorded, he looks forward to forging new relationships with the next generation of film composers and to continue his pursuit of assisting in capturing and shaping the very sounds his clients envision.

Antonio Gambale

Antonio Gambale is an Italian and Australian composer based in Paris, France.

A long and fruitful collaboration working with colleague and mentor Parisian composer Nathaniel Méchaly saw Antonio contributing to projects of international renown such as the Taken film franchise, Colombiana and The Grandmaster from director Wong Kar Wai, working in various roles such as programmer, additional music composer and
score producer. Antonio also co-signed with Nathaniel the original music for season 3 of the popular French political satire comedy series, Kaboul Kitchen for Canal+.

Along the way Antonio has remained in-demand working in various roles such as arranging, programming and scoring additional music for international TV series such as Taxi Brooklyn, and a veritable best-of list of the top box office films in France of the past five years, spanning a variety of genres.

Most recently, Antonio scored the original music for the runaway international hit Netflix series, Unorthodox. The score for Unorthodox has received high acclaim, praised as a “breakthrough score” in Film Music Magazine. It received two 2020 Emmy nominations, in the categories of Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music, and Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie or Special.

Mario Grigorov

Mario Grigorov is a Bulgarian-born film and television composer and concert pianist. A musical prodigy from the age of five, he became one of the youngest students ever admitted to the Sofia Conservatory. He went on to study music in four different countries before the age of eighteen, becoming an accomplished concert pianist and improviser in the styles of jazz, classical and electronic music.

FILMED ENTERTAINMENT CAREER

In 2014 Mario met with Harry Potter director David Yates and was invited to work on a Warner Bros film starring Margot Robbie, Samuel L. Jackson and Christoph Waltz.  He has gone on to work with Yates on his much anticipated upcoming Warner Brothers film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and composed and co-wrote an original song with the most famous writer in the world, Harry Potter author, J.K. Rowling.

Some of his most recognizable film work comes from his long-standing collaboration with Academy Award-winning director Lee Daniels, who created the smash TV show, Empire. Working with Daniels, Mario has scored Shadowboxer, Tennessee, the Academy Award-winning Precious, and The Paperboy, starring Nicole Kidman. Other film scores include the supernatural thriller, Beyond, starring Academy-award nominee Jon Voight, who went on to say, “Mario is a master at his craft and delivered a score that elevated the movie to another level.”  Acclaimed director Susan Seidelman said of Mario’s score for her dramatic romance, Musical Chairs, “Not only is he a brilliant composer and musician, but he is a great collaborative partner, always putting the artistic and emotional needs of the movie first without compromising his own vision.”

Forays into television film work saw the creation of an eerie yet gorgeous score to Lifetime’s Original Movie series cult classic, Flowers in the Attic, based on the all-time best selling novel of the same name, and its sequel Petals on the Wind, starring Heather Graham and Ellen Burstyn.

International scores include Patang by Indian director Prashant Bhargava, The Hopes and Dreams of Gazza Snell by New Zealand director Brendan Donovan, Uruguayan director Leonardo Ricagni’s films 29 Palms, Feathers to the Sky and The Life Jacket Is Under Your Seat for which Mario was awarded Best Original Score at the Hamptons Film Festival, and more recently, german TV movies for the ZDF, such as: Unter anderen, Umständen, Totengebet, Nord Nord Mord.

Mario’s documentary credits include the festival favorite Third Wave: A Volunteer Story presented by Sean Penn, the Anna Halpern biographical film Breath Made Visible by filmmaker Ruedi Gerber, and the war documentary Taxi to the Darkside by Alex Gibney, which won a 2008 Academy Award for best Documentary.

Marc Grittke

Responsible for music announcement in live, broadcast and streaming (including television, radio, cinema, live events/concerts, clubs and discos) and associated integration of technologies for optimised user identification.

John Groves

John Groves is a British composer, musician and producer, and a specialist for the use of sound and music in advertising and communication. He is known mainly for his memorable jingles and advertising songs. In the early nineties, he developed a structured system for creating sound identities for brands. This methodology provided the basis for what now is known as "Sound Branding". In recent years, John has dedicated a lot of his time to the study of psychoacoustics and the applied use of sound in a healthcare context; from navigational sounds for medical equipment to Receptive Sound Therapy programs for helping to improve sleep, manage stress, and more.

Martin Häne

Martin Haene is a Publisher of several music library labels including Nuvotone, consisting of 3 labels and distributed globally by market leader Universal / UPPM, and Catapult, distributed individually per territory.

Before becoming a music publisher, Martin Häne worked for 10+ years as composer for all major and various independent production music companies.

His credits as a composer include "Fack ju Göhte 2", "Melrose Place", "Bring it on" (Universal), various Lion's Gate Films (Warrior, Frankenhood) as well as Commercials and TV Series on networks such as ABC, NBC, CW TV, among others.

As a Publisher, his mission is simple: To offer high-quality production music for the media industry, ranging from labels with traditional genres to catalogs with unique boutique-made sounds.

Susanne Hardt

Susanne Hardt, born in 1993, is a (film) composer and music theorist from Mainz and a member of the female composer collective track 15. In 2016, she completed her Bachelor's degree with a major in music theory at the Dresden University of Music and began a Master's degree with a major in film music at the Konrad Wolf Film University in Potsdam. Since 2016 she has been a lecturer in music theory at the Dresden University of Music.

She has received several awards for her compositions, including the Special Mention of Soundtrack Cologne at the European Talent Award 2018. In 2015, she was awarded the 'Carl-Maria von Weber Scholarship' by the Dresden University of Music and received the 'Schloss Wiepersdorf' scholarship of Jeunesses Musicales Germany.

Catherine Harte

This intimate documentary follows the cross-cultural relationship between musicians
Faith and Branko over seven years. In 2011, Faith travels from England to Serbia to learn
gypsy accordion. She meets Roma violinist Branko and despite language barriers, they
fall in love through music and spontaneously decide to marry. Faith adapts to life in
Branko’s village, learning Serbian, music and housewife skills. After a while, they decide
move to the UK for better opportunities. As time passes, their differences emerge and
they each miss aspects of their culture. Is love and music enough to keep them
together? Faith and Branko is a tender look at two artists in love.

Simon Heeger

Vasco Hexel

Vasco Hexel is a media composer, author and educator. For nearly 12 years, until early 2020, he ran the Masters Programme in Composition for Screen at the Royal College of Music, London. He was visiting lecturer at the Faculty of Music, University of Cambridge, 2016-2029. He is consultant at the Film and Television Music Research Center, Beijing Normal University, and he was Head of Music at the London Film School, 2010-2013. Vasco earned his Bachelor of Music degree in Film Scoring and Vocal Performance at the Berklee College of Music, Boston. He earned his Masters degree in Composition for Screen at the Royal College of Music where he also wrote his doctoral thesis Understanding Contextual Agents and their Impact on Recent Hollywood Film Music Practice. Vasco has composed music for award-winning animations, documentaries, commercials, and feature films. His music has featured in numerous broadcasts internationally. Vasco’s music was used exclusively for the 2012 Christmas branding of S4/C (Wales) and he created the new sonic identity of Kanal D (Romania) in 2009. Past and current clients include RSA Films, Music Sales, SohoMusic as well as fashion brands Gucci and Boden. Vasco’s music is published by Universal Music, EMI, and Bosworth.

As an educator and scholar Vasco is passionate about coaching aspiring screen composers and filmmakers, devising and delivering relevant, industry-facing, hands-on training on the creation and function of music in screen media. Vasco’s academic writing and international speaking engagements continue to nourish the appreciation of film music and explore the creative practice of film music creation and collaborative soundtrack composition.

Vasco is the author of The Film and Media Creators Guide to Music (New York: Routledge, 2018) and Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard’s The Dark Knight – A Film Score Guide (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016). He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a member of the Royal Television Society (RTS) and the British Academy for Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).

Nele Jeromin

Nele Jeromin was born 1985 in Oberhausen, Germany.

After studying "Scenic Arts" in Hildesheim, she studied „Media Arts“ at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. She works as director and editor in cologne.

Works (selection):

i'tikaaf

Dokumentarfilm, 2021, Montage
Regie: Anna-Maria Dutoit, Raaed Alkour

verschwinden

Fotofilm, 2021, Montage
Regie: Angelika Herta

Tanaka's Diary
Found-Footage-Film, 2020, Montage
Regie: Filip Jacobson

Malaka
Dokumentarfilm, 2019, Montage
Regie: Jan Krämer

Sollte da ich und niemand sein
Dokumentarfilm, 2018, Regie
Montage: Rune Schweitzer

What we leave behind / Močiute, guten Tag!

Dokumentarfilm, 2017, Montage
Regie: Jūratė Samulionytė & Vilma Samulionytė

Bernd Keul

Bernd Keul is a live musician, composer and producer who has more than 30 years of work experience in the field of computer music production. He focuses on world music concerts and hybrid instruments and his works have been performed in theatres and played on the radio. Through his activity he gained extensive experience in working with Leap Motion, Roli Seabord Blocks, TouchOSC and Max for Life Devices.

Jens Kindermann

Head of Products Department
Member of GEMA since 1996
Specialized in audiovisual productions, monitoring, sound files, and production rights

Johannes Klein

Curator and film program manager of In–Edit International Music Documentary Festival since 2007, the most important music documentary film festival that started 19 years ago in Barcelona and then expanded to the whole world with editions in Spain, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Greece. Since 2012, Johannes also works for the Festival Agency in Paris, a distributor that provides high-quality films to film festivals around the world. Johannes is also one of the music documentary curators at See the Sound Festival in Cologne.

Tessa Knapp

Tessa Knapp studied media art at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne, specialising in video art, experimental film as well as archaeology and variantology of media. Since 2007 she has been working freelance in the field of media art and film; several of her works have won awards (1st prize Showcase International Film Forum Germany, 1st NRW Prize of the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen for Taste of Honey (Montage)).

As part of her activities as a lecturer and author in the field of cultural education and media art education, she developed several teaching concepts and led over 40 projects on animated film, photography, stage design, music clips and analogue/digital media design for different age groups.

Since 2017, she has held a teaching position for video art and digital media at the University of Duisburg-Essen, where she offers courses and excursions for the Art and Media examination module and advises and supervises student projects in the field of digital recording technology.

Cornelia Köhler

Cornelia Köhler works in the media industry since 2000, first as a producer of sitcoms Das Amt and Bernds Hexe for Cologne-Gemini film, later in the script development for Constantin Entertainment. Since 2007 Cornelia Köhler is an independent producer/script-writer/dramaturge for cinema and TV formats. She is editor of the magazine Rundbrief (Film-und Medienbüro Niedersachsen) and director and scriptwriter for a series of documentaries about German Literature (e.g. about Johann Wolfgang Goethe and Friedrich Schiller), worked among others as dramaturge for the feature films Low Lights (produced by dagstarfilm, 2009), Pattys Catchup (dagstarfilm, 2011) and as co-writer for the German-Lithuanian documentary Liebe Oma, Guten Tag (dagstarfilm, 2017, supported by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW). Since 2009 she has been a member of Women in Film and Television Germany and since 2010 is a board member of WIFT Germany.

Hansjörg Kohli

Hansjörg Kohli is a film composer currently living and working in Munich. He grew up in Switzerland, studied film scoring and jazz piano at Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA and the University of Performing Arts in Munich. He startet out as an orchestrator for a variety of film projects. Later on he became the head of the film music department at German National Television ZDF in Mainz.
Among his more recent works are the scores to Die Küstenpiloten (ARD/Degeto), Jenseits der Spree (ZDF), Väter - Allein zu Haus (ARD/WDR), Kirgistan - Hochgebirgsland voller Schätze (ARTE), 37Grad - Schmerz, lass nach! (ZDF).
He is teaching in the film scoring program at the Munich University of Performing Arts and also in the Master of Arts in TV Journalism program at the University of applied Sciences and Arts in Hannover.

Barbara Krämer

Barbara Krämer has worked at different music publishers yet. She worked as a contract conduct for AutoBahn music publisher. Also, she has been in the foreign department at music publisher Hans Gerig. Since 2009 she is project manager with focus on film music at Bavaria Sonor music publisher. Since 2015 she is a full member in the appraisal committee​ at GEMA.

Dr. Anselm Kreuzer

Anselm Kreuzer began playing the Cello at age 9 and soon discovered composing as his major passion. Already back then he combined the classical approach with modern sounds. After finishing school he studied musicology, media science and phonetics at the Cologne University and achieved a Ph.D. with a dissertation on Film Music. During his time as a student he got several assignments for media compositions, especially in the field of radio and television. Now he is a designated specialist for TV title themes, station IDs, scores for series and TV drama as well as music for new media and advertising.

Also he has an oeuvre of more than 1000 internationally successful production music titles. Among the magazine and news shows he composed for are Weltreisen (ARD), Check Eins - Neuneinhalb (ARD), Die Chefin (ZDF), Die lustigsten Schlamassel (RTL), Lebensläufe (MDR), RBB UM6 (RBB), ZIBB (RBB), Täter Opfer Polizei (RBB). He recently scored for TV series like Küstenwache, Kripo Holstein - Mord und Meer (ZDF), Rosenheim-Cops (ZDF), In Aller Freundschaft (ARD) and  documentaries like Natur Exklusiv (BR).

He is co founder of the production music label MUSIC SCULPTOR. Whether symphonic orchestra or electronic approach - Anselm has a passionate faible for emotional, narrative and often catchy thematic music that merges with moving pictures and stories. He often sounds the borders between composition and sound design and passes on his know how to students as a guest lecturer at several universities and media schools. Also he is engaged as a working group leader in the media industry association Eyes & Ears of Europe and as a board member of the Composers Club.

Matthias Krüger

Tasja Langenbach

Tasja Langenbach ist seit 2012 künstlerische Leiterin der Videonale Bonn und arbeitet seit 2004 als freie Kuratorin, u.a. für Galerie Anita Beckers, Frankfurt; ZKM Karlsruhe; Videonale Bonn; SoundTrack_Cologne, Köln; Folkwang Museum Essen. Zuvor Studium der Kunstgeschichte und Kulturwissenschaften in Erlangen, Leipzig und Barcelona. Sie ist regelmäßig Mitglied in Auswahl-, Preis- und Stipendien-Juries, schreibt im Bereich Video- und Medienkunst und lehrt seit 2017 im Master Kultur, Ästhetik, Medien an der Hochschule Düsseldorf.

Mathieu Lavoie

Mathieu Lavoie is an award-winning composer, entrepreneur and educator. Doctor in composition (University of Montreal, 2012), he co-founded Vibe Avenue, a leading audio and music creation studio for visual media, with fellow composer FX Dupas, in 2013, and holds a position of professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal. 

While also assuming the role of co-creative director and CEO, he has worked on music for dozens of video games, films and commercials, as well as many concert pieces. Amongst his most recent projects are the games Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance, Star Trek Fleet Command, Omensight, Livelock, O.K. K.O Lakewood Plaza Turbo and Ultimate Chicken Horse. 

A specialist in hybrid orchestral music, Mathieu Lavoie’s musical style is hard to define in absolute terms, having scored games and films using multiple fusions of other genres, such as heavy-metal, retro synth, EDM, jazz, funk and world music. He owns hundreds of flutes, plucked string instruments and other weird sound producing devices which he uses regularly to enhance his scores.

Helienne Lindvall

Anne Löhr

Psychologist Anne Löhr is co-founder of the "Mental Health in Music" Association (MiM). In her profession as a trained systemic therapist and coach, she advises and supervises artists, bands, individuals and teams in the music and creative industries throughout Germany. 
In her work, she combines her many years of expertise from working in psychiatric and psychotherapeutic settings with her insights into the industry as a musician and creative. Her consulting focusses on main mental health topics in the industry such as stress, anxiety, depression and burnout, prevention, conflict, crisis management and mediation, personality and team development as well as dealing with publicity and feedback. In early 2020, she founded the Mental Health in Music Association (MiM), which works to raise visibility, awareness and improve mental health in the music industry. In addition to workshops and talks, the association offers funded individual counseling. As a musician, she is also a member of various female-in-music networks (Raketerei, V-Breakfast, MusicWomenGermany).

Hanna Sophie Lüke

Hanna Sophie Lüke is a music journalist (M.A.) for broadcasting and multimedia, musician, composer, singer and international stage and online presenter. As music journalist she has a long experience in working for radio stations like 1LIVE, WDR 2, WDR 3, WDR 4 and orchestras like WDR Funkhausorchester or Gürzenich Orchestra.
As composer Hanna Sophie Lüke cooperates with the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg for three years now. Her original compositions have already been released on Sonoton PM & Universal PM and she wrote for leading providers for computer-based audio production like Native Instruments and Orchestral Tools. Her pieces with the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg have been played by radio and tv stations like BBC, RTL and WDR. In 2021 her new pieces which she recorded remote with the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg premiered at the virtual Sundance Film Festival 2021 (USA) as part of the new format "Film Music House @Sundance“. She is also co-founder of the successful female composer collective „track15“. In 2018 she took part at the first „Female Film Composer Class“ at SoundTrack_Cologne15.
Hanna Sophie Lüke also works as lecturer at university and media coach and appears as moderator and speaker at renowned music festivals such as the Berlinale, SoundTrack_Cologne or SoundTrack_Zurich, leads music expert panels, international conferences and science-festivals on the topic Climate - Environment - Sustainability. She is presenter of the award ceremony at SoundTrack_Cologne 2021.
More informations: www.hannasophielueke.de

Nathaniel Mechaly

Born in 1972, Nathaniel Mechaly studied the cello, chamber music and electro acoustic composing in Paris, Marseille, and Boulogne National Academies of Music.

Nathaniel Mechaly signed his first cinematic score in 2004 with Raphaël Nadjari ‘s film AVANIM and later went on to compose music for many other films including REVOLVER by Guy Ritchie and  the success of the TAKEN trilogy (1, 2 and 3).

In 2014, he was granted BEST COMPOSER AWARD at the 8th Asian Film Festival and a BEST ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK AWARD at the 33th Hong-Kong Film Festival for THE GRANDMASTER directed by Wong Kar Wai.

He had a very full year with Farren Blackburn’s feature film OPRESSION (SHUT IN)  and JOUR POLAIRE (MIDNIGHT SUN) a French-Swedish Tv Series with actress Leïla Bekthi,And  again in 2017 with WONG KAR WAI  for SEE YOU TOMORROW.

Recently he composes  for the Sweden film SWOON directed by Måns Mårlind et Björn Stein for which he won the Guldbagge Award for best music in Sweden, in 2020 he teams up again with them for the tv Show SHADOWPLAY.

Julian Merker

Julian Merker is a German film music composer, audio engineer, and producer. A trained classical pianist, he initially began his musical career as an apprentice audio engineer at the SAE Institute Amsterdam in 2014. He has recorded and mixed for artists such as Duran Duran and Mr. Probz, going on to work at renowned studios in the Netherlands, including Wisseloord and Red Bull Studios.

Returning to classical music for visual media, he studied in the UK and now holds a Masters degree in Composition and Sonic Art from University of Bangor. He works as a freelance composer in Berlin for a variety of international publishers and takes on projects related to music for film, TV, and video games. His solo piano album ‘Yūgen’ is due to be released beginning 2022.

His music credits include award-nominated short films and documentaries as well as a variety of placements in commercial TV and Media for Huawei, Sainsbury’s, Mini, NBA, Red Bull, and more. Specializing in trailer and production music, as well as scoring for environmental documentaries, he has recently also branched out into creating video content for virtual instrument creators Orchestral Tools.

Micki Meuser

Micki Meuser is a film composer, music producer and songwriter and lives in Berlin.

He wrote the music for over 60 films, including international feature films with Daniel Craig, Kirstin Dunst or Lynn Redgrave, and many feature films for ZDF and ARD, as well as music for TV series in Germany and the USA.

He produced albums and wrote songs for artists like Ideal, Die Ärzte, Ina Deter, Silly, Lassie Singers, Nervous Germans and many others. On many of these recordings he also played bass and keyboards.

Micki Meuser is chairman of the German Film Composers' Union (DEFKOM) and on the board of the German Composers' Association. Meuser is also a member of the GEMA supervisory board.

Jan Müller

Responsible for the further development of the GEMA online portal with a focus on the area for GEMA members, contact person for the tool "My setlists" as well as for music sequences/setlists and their access and processing.

Fitore Muzaqi

Fitore Muzaqi is a cologne based Director, Procuer and writer. She worked as a creative producer for WDR, Cologne-based production companies and, most recently, for the young broadcaster Cosmo WDR in a serial online format. As a director, she focusses on music videos and documentaries, while her work as a writer deals with cultural differences, feminist issues and injustice. She is currently studying for a master's degree in serial storytelling at the international film school cologne.

Jan Nedved

Jan Nedved
co-owner of AIMS and Studio Fontana

Jan has been working in the music industry for the past 15 years. He has extensive experience servicing both synchronization clients and broadcasters, supplying them with production music, providing them with licensing and accompanying software solutions. He developed a team of music stylists for his company covering most of the CEE region and is now responsible for opening new markets and negotiating key partnerships with broadcasters. He's also a solo singer-songwriter. 

Flemming Nordkrog

Flemming Nordkrog is a Danish composer based in France. 
Winner of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award and winner of the Danish Award Carl Prisen 2021 for his score for Mathias Mariani's ‘Shine your Eyes’. 

In 1996 at the age of 23 he fell completely in love with composing for films, when he scored his first projects for the The National Film School of Denmark. Over the years, he has created music for more than 25 feature films, and numerous TV-series, documentaries, TV-movies and short films in Denmark, France, Belgium, Brazil and the US.

Flemming has recently finished the score for the first Danish HBO series, Kamikaze, which will be premiered on HBO Max from November 14th. 

He has also recently finished score for the French feature film, Ogre, by Arnaud Malherbe, presented this year at the Deauville American Film Festival as well as the score for the new film by Philippe Lioret, Sixteen. 

Tina Pepper

Tina Pepper is an award-winning television and film composer based in Berlin. She started her career while studying music at the renowned Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) and went on studying at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF where she eventually graduated with a Master in film music.
Amongst others she has since written music for award winning films like ‘Combat Girl’ (David Wnendt) and ‘Teardrop’ (Damian John Harper), independent features such as ‘Away you go’ (Philipp Eichholtz) and for the Amazon original series ‘You Are Wanted’ (Matthias Schweighöfer). In 2020 she was awarded the German Television Award for Best Music for her score for the German TV Series 'Rampensau’.

Corinna Poeszus

Corinna C. Poeszus is a senior business executive with over 30 years experience in the music, digital media & film production, advertising and tv entertainment industries driven by the power of passion and an open mind to think outside the box. Corinna is a successful Leader and Manager with more than 18 years of experience in leading teams to their goals. Her experience is well rounded with an in-depth understanding of international media business management & operations, product branding, online marketing, social media, CRM, planning and controlling of marketing, monitoring, marketing & comms, monitoring of strategic marketing activities, B2B as well as B2C.
Her professional career took her from Polygram via Endemol Entertainment to Bertelsmann and Universal Publishing, Bavaria Media and many more.

Corinna C. Poeszus ist eine erfahrene Führungskraft mit über 30 Jahren Erfahrung in den Bereichen Musik, digitale Medien und Filmproduktion, Werbung und TV-Entertainment. Sie ist angetrieben von der Kraft der Leidenschaft und Offenheit, über den Tellerrand hinaus zu denken. Corinna ist erfolgreiche Managerin mit mehr als 18 Jahren Erfahrung, ihre Teams zu Zielen zu führen. Ihre Erfahrung zeichnet sich durch ein tiefgreifendes Verständnis der internationalen Medien, Business Management & Operations, Produkt-Branding, Online-Marketing, Social Media, CRM, Planung und Controlling von Marketing, Monitoring, Marketing & Kommunikation, Überwachung von strategischen Marketing-Aktivitäten - sowohl B2B als auch B2C.

Ihre beruflichen Stationen führten sie von Polygram über Endemol Entertainment zu Bertelsmann und Universal Publishing, Bavaria Media und viele weitere Stationen.

Corinna Rottschy

Corinna Rottschy hat Gesang studiert und war bereits als Sprecherin beim WDR für den Hörfunk tätig. Seit 2014 ist sie Managerin des WDR Funkhausorchesters.

SØS Gunver Ryberg

SØS Gunver Ryberg is an accomplished composer and sound artist from Denmark. She creates genre-defying electronic music and her characteristic style is recognized for insistent rhythms, combined with a meticulous exploration of powerful textures and emotions. She is known for her high-quality performance and productions with critically acclaimed releases, live concerts, soundtracks, dance and theatre work and multichannel installations.
Within video games she worked on the sound and music for the multi award winning INSIDE by Playdead which won prizes and nominations like BAFTA. She composed the score for the Danish film Cutterhead, which also won prizes and nominations like “The Camille Awards” European Film composer awards for Best Electro Acoustic Score Cutterhead 2021.

Nicole Schmeier

Filmography as film editor

Pieter Schlosser

Pieter is a video game and television composer with credits to his name such as DESTINY 2, Disney Channel’s SECRETS OF SULPHUR SPRINGS”, Telemundo’s MALVERDE: EL SANTO PATRON, Hulu’s LIGHT AS A FEATHER, the IMAX documentary IN SATURN'S RINGS, NBC’s YOU, ME AND THE APOCALYPSE and Freeform's THE LYING GAME, as well as additional music on the TRANSFORMERS franchise, ABC’s RESURRECTION, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D., THE ASTRONAUT WIVE'S CLUB to name a few.

Michael Seal

Michael Seal is the Associate Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), a unique appointment which recognises his work as Assistant Conductor, and the special relationship he has built with the orchestra.

His in-depth knowledge of orchestras from an insider’s position (he was a violinist with the CBSO early in his career) gives him a unique perspective and he quickly builds rapport and trust with the orchestras he works with. His energy and enthusiasm are infectious and he has built a reputation for outstanding results, delivered with great charm and often on a typically British tight rehearsal schedule.

Michael has worked with many of the UK’s finest orchestras, frequently being invited as guest conductor with the BBC orchestras and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic orchestras, as well as the Academy of St.Martin in the Fields, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Ulster Orchestra.

Internationally, he has conducted the Brussels Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Odense Symphony Orchestra, Joensuu City Orchestra, Orquesta Académica del Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón, Orquesta Filarmónica de Buenos Aires and both RTÉ Concert and National Symphony Orchestras.

Michael has a special bond with the CBSO Youth Orchestra, conducting them on numerous occasions, and being involved with them since their foundation.

His love of opera led to critically acclaimed performances of Puccini’s Il Trittico at the Birmingham Conservatoire. He has also assisted both Sakari Oramo and Andris Nelsons in opera performances of Peter Grimes, Carmen, Der Rosenkavalier, Lohengrin, Tristan & Isolde and The Flying Dutchman.

During the global pandemic of 2020/21, Michael started his podcast, ‘a mic on the podium’, which is a weekly interview with another prominent conductor. It has become highly successful, gaining rave reviews and, due to its unique format, it has now been placed in the National Sound Archive at the British Library.

Highlights of the concert season 2021/2 see him returning to the CBSO, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, BBC NOW, BBC Concert Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and WDR Funkhausorchester Köln.

Beda Senn

Swiss Television since 2006 and has been responsible for the conception & production of new library/production music since 2018.
Beda Senn has 40 years of know-how in the music sector: programming and conception for various radios, music editor for TV programmes, sound design and consulting for events, fashion and dance.

Mirjam Skal

Mirjam Skal (*1996) is a composer and orchestrator based in Zurich, Switzerland. She is currently completing her master‘s degree in film scoring at the Zurich University of the Arts and has been working as a freelance composer over the past few years. Her work includes music for several animated shorts, advertisements, documentaries and music for the national Swiss television (SRF). As a synesthete, Mirjam‘s approach to composing is very intuitive. She is fascinated by combining live instruments with electronic soundscapes to create evocative textures. Earlier this year, Mirjam was selected as a sound studio participant in Berlinale Talents. In addition, she was chosen to be part of the AWFC Mentorship program 2021 under the guidance of renowned composer Mychael Danna (Life of Pi).

Kadir Sözen

Kadir Sözen was born in 1964 in Turkey. He received a scholarship at the Hans Böckler Foundation, where he studied from 1986 until 1990, completing a degree in economics.

He founded his own production company, Filmfabrik, in 1995, where as director, writer and producer, as well as in cooperation with other renowned filmmakers, he made numerous television films, documentaries and feature films. Many of his film productions have been invited at international film festivals where they have received awards and prizes.  "Days of Our Wishes,” a two-part television movie, received the "Adolf Grimme Prize” in 2005. The German-Turkish co-production "Autum" received numerous nominations, including one for the European Film Award as well as for the Locarno Film Festival’s "CICAE Prix Art & Essai.”

Andreas Suttner

Andreas Suttner has studied Violoncello and music tuition and has been awarded as a cellist at several well-known contests. As a musician he is working as a soloist and in different ensembles. 
After completing his MA in Arts Management at City University of London he has turned his attention to music management and promotion.

From 2004 he is working as a music consultant for the film department of Bavarian Television and from 2008 as trainer for the ARD-ZDF media academy.

In 2007 Andreas Suttner founded the productuin music label KLANGIDEE and since then is focusing on his work as a composer and producer for filmmusic in TV, radio and web.

The Flight

Ivor Novello award winning duo Joe Henson and Alexis Smith began collaborating in 2005 when they co-produced an album for Joe’s band Seventhsun. After realising they had a similar approach to life and wildly divergent musical tastes, they formed a creative partnership that quickly encompassed songwriting, production, and composition.

The duo have worked with some of the biggest names in the music industry as well as being A-list composers for video games. 2014 saw the release of hit survival horror title ALIEN: ISOLATION, and they followed this up with 2017's HORIZON: ZERO DAWN, the Playstation 4's biggest selling new IP to date, and then Ubisoft Québec's ASSASSIN'S CREED ODYSSEY.

The Flight's television projects include the BAFTA nominated BBC documentary series DRUGSLAND, and KIDS ON THE EDGE, produced for Channel 4 by Century Films.

Anne Urban

1972 born in Kassel

1993-1996 Studies Media Culture and Theatre, Cologne University

1996-1998 Professional education Film lab technician, Hadeko/ ProCine Neuss

Since 1998 Post Production Supervisor e.g. for X Filme, Pandora, UFA, Bantry Bay, btf, brainpool, Filmservice Babelsberg, ODEON Fiction.

Some projects: „Whale Rider“, „Deutschland 09“, „Colonia Dignidad“, „Iron Sky“, „Jesus liebt mich“, „Wendy“, „How To Sell Drugs Online (Fast)“, „Gunpowder Milkshake“, „Bonn”…

2000-2001 Project manager ARRI Cologne

2006-2008 Branch manager of Cinepost labs in NRW

Lecturer e.g. Kölner Filmhaus, ifs, Intern. FrauenFilmFestival, Filmakademie Ludwigsburg… 

Translation of specialist book „Film Technology in Post Production" (D. Case) to German

Jef Van Even

Jef works at „Chaussee Soundvision GmbH“ soundstudio for film & TV (former „SoundVision GmbH“) in Cologne, Germany since 2008.

Did an apprenticeship to become „Mediadesigner for Image & Sound“ and has completed the mastership examination through the Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

Started as a boom-operator for various film and tv projects. Later, he changed to post-production. As a recordist, sound designer and mixing sound engineer he has gathered years of experience contributing to documentary and feature films, television series, advertising and radioplay.

Meanwhile, he is also responsible for planning projects and staff, accountancy and apprenticeship.

Furthermore he is a passionate musician and producer (amongst others for the band “La Société)

Martin Villiger

It can be said that Martin Villiger already has some experience in the film music field.

That's over 110 films and series and well over 350 series episodes and counting.

„I love to bring different people and art forms together and to dare new things.“ Martin says. In addition to songs he writes and produces with pop greats, he has always tried new areas of music. For example, he has written the music for a circus show, for installations, numerous commercials and corporate sound for companies. Martin Villiger is also interested in spatial audio for VR (virtual reality) and games.

 Martin was born in Glasgow and grew up in Jerusalem, among other places. He feels at home all over the world and speaks 6 languages. His new concert series "Culture Clash" fits in with this. He is married to Catherine and together they have 4 children

Ama Walton

Ama Walton is a media lawyer, business mediator and speaker. She is an established expert in the entertainment industry with a focus on music and film law as well as cooperative negotiation and conflict resolution. For the last three years she was in the board of BMG Rights Management GmbH as their global General Counsel and CHRO. Prior to BMG she was managing director of the music companies of Constantin Film AG and before that in the management team of EMI Music Germany GmbH & Co. KG as their leading lawyer.

Gary Yershon

In his long and varied career, Gary has written scores for the leading UK theatre companies, West End and Broadway productions, radio, television, film, dance and concert hall.

His best-known film work has been for Mike Leigh. Their collaboration began with Topsy-Turvy, on which Gary was musical director, followed by scores for Happy-Go-Lucky, Another Year A Running Jump, Mr Turner and Peterloo. Other film composition projects include Brighton for Stephen Cookson and 23 Walks for Paul Morrison.! !

Gary’s stage work includes many productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, the West End (including English-language premieres of Yasmina Reza’s plays Art, The Unexpected Man, Life x 3 and God of Carnage) and Broadway.

Gary has written for BBC radio since 1979, beginning as a singer-songwriter. Since then he has composed for many plays, including the 2002 Sony-award winning Autumn Journal. TV work ranges from detective drama (Trial and Retribution IX & X) to children’s cartoon series (James the Cat, Ebb and Flo). Music for dance includes Ma Vie en Rose (2007) for the Young Vic, and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2017) for Northern Ballet. Recent concert works include The Great Blueness (2019) commissioned and premiered by the London Symphony Orchestra, and the woodwind quartet Des Vents (2020) for the Calum’Arts Quartet.

Having begun his career as an actor-musician, Gary returned to live performance in 2019 with his show Once Upon A Song at London’s premiere cabaret venue, the Crazy Coqs.

For Another Year Gary was nominated for a European Film Award. For Mr Turner he won the Camille Award for Best Orchestral Score, and was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award, the ASCAP Composer’s Choice award, and the Academy Award for Best Original Score. For The Norman Conquests he was nominated for a Drama Desk award.

Gary is an Associate Artist of both the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Old Vic theatre, an Associate Teacher at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and a guest lecturer at the London Film School. He has taught at academic, vocational and professional institutions both in the UK and internationally. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.