Alex Heffes (Composer)
Tuesday, September 7, 2010 at 5:53AM
The First Grader

ALEX HEFFES (Composer) is one of the UK’s leading film composers. Rising to international prominence with his score to Kevin Macdonald’s Oscar®-winning ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER Alex is a composer who has never been confined by musical boundaries. After graduating from Oxford with a first-class degree, Alex first worked as writer and arranger on projects covering the musical spectrum from steel band to symphony orchestra with artists such as Elton John and members of Blur. His versatility as a composer has led to a busy and varied movie-scoring career taking him across musical boundaries from the acclaimed BAFTA-winning film TOUCHING THE VOID to THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND. Other movie scores include :

DEAR FRANKIE (Miramax Films), the psychological thriller TRAUMA (Warner Bros.), starring Colin Firth and Mena Suvari, the Fox Searchlight romantic comedy IMAGINE ME AND YOU, and Steve Coogan’s hi-jinx comedy THE PAROLE OFFICER. While scoring THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, Alex travelled to Uganda to record and produce many of the bands featured on the soundtrack. His score to acclaimed thriller STATE OF PLAY, starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck and Helen Mirren, featured a collaboration with classic British rock producer Flood. He also collaborated with director Tim Burton on his screen adaptation of SWEENEY TODD starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.

Alex’s scores have been nominated for BAFTA, Ivor Novello, European Film Academy and ASCAP awards. On the concert platform Alex’s music has been featured at venues as diverse as Symphony Hall Birmingham, the London Jazz Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He was composer in residence at the Sangat Music Festival in Mumbai, India and in 2003 was invited to the Sultanate of Oman to attend the premiere of his overture commissioned by the Oman Royal Symphony Orchestra. His band, the Alex Heffes Trio, was featured on the soundtracks to WOMEN TALKING DIRTY (Rocket Pictures) and CIRCUS (Columbia Pictures).

 

Article originally appeared on The First Grader (http://www.thefirstgrader-themovie.com/).
See website for complete article licensing information.