Rachel Portman

Born in west Sussex, England, Rachel Portman began composing at age 14 and read music at Oxford University. She gained experience writing music for drama in BBC and Channel 4 films including Mike Leigh's Four Days In July and Jim Henson's Storyteller series.

Portman has written over 100 scores for film, television and theatre. She was the first female composer to win an Academy Award for her original score for Emma. She received two further Academy nominations for The Cider House Rules and Chocolat, the latter also earned her a Golden Globe nomination.

For the stage and concert hall she has written an opera based on Saint Exupery's The Little Prince (2003) for Houston Grand Opera and, the climate change inspired, The Water Diviner's Tale (2007), a dramatic choral symphony for the BBC Proms. She has regularly collaborated with acclaimed author Sir Michael Morpurgo together they wrote the Christmas carol We were there (2014) for the Royal Livepool Philharmonic Orchestra and Youth Chorus. Endangered (2012), is an orchestral work commissioned by the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing, for the the World Environment Day Concert in 2013. In 2019 Portman wrote Earth Song for the BBC Singers with text by poet Nick Drake and which also quotes climate activist Greta Thunberg. Portman scored the BBC1 animated Christmas special Mimi and the Mountain Dragon (2019) based on Sir Michael Morpurgo's book of the same name.

Consistently inspired by nature, in 2021 Portman and librettist Gene Scheer wrote The First Morning of the World for mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato as part of her Eden project. In 2024 by they wrote the song cycle Another Eve also for DiDonato. In 2023 Tipping Points (2023) was commissioned for violinist Niklas Liepe. The work is a concerto for violin with the addition of spoken poems by Nick Drake. The poems grew out of a conversation between Portman and Drake about the classical elements, Earth, Water, Air and Fire. They have also collaborated on The Gathering Tree for the 2025 Last Night of the Proms.

Portman's recent projects include Dolomites, Pale Mountains for Alexander Gilman and LGT Young Soloists which premeired at The Merano International Festival in Summer 2025. The music was accompanied in concert by searingly beautiful images of the Dolomite Mountains by acclaimed photographer Geog Tappeiner. Filmscapes for Flute and Strings was commissioned by Massimo Mercelli who premiered the work at the Emilia Romagna Festival, also in summer 2025.

Portman was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours and is an Honorary Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford and of The Royal College of Music in London. She was the subject of BBC Radio 3 Composer of the Week in 2017.

Twitter: @rpcomposer
Instagram: @rachelportmancomposer
rachelportman.co.uk

Podcast: Composing Myself - Wise Music Group’s CEO Dave Holley and Creative Director Gill Graham chat to Rachel Portman.

Critical Acclaim

Rachel's scores run deep, adding levels of unexpected texture, mood and emotion. (Broadcast Music Inc)

Rachel Portman was born in west Sussex, England. She began composing at the age of 14 and read music at Oxford University. Whilst there, she became interested in writing music for student films and theatre productions. She gained experience writing music for drama in BBC and Channel 4 films such as Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Mike Leigh's Four Days In July and Jim Henson's Storyteller series. She is the first female composer to win an Academy award for her original score for Emma. She also received Academy nominations for Chocolat and Ciderhouse Rules, which also earned her a Golden Globe Nomination.

Having scored over 100 films, Portman also enjoys writing for the concert hall and the stage. Her composing voice is unmistakable and brings with it wonderful characterisation and emotional depth. Her Opera based on Antoine St Exupery's The Little Prince was commissioned by Houston Grand Opera and premiered in 2003. Such is the appeal of the work the BBC decided to film Francesca Zambello's production, featuring a young Joseph McManners who came to light through a nationwide search for the young person who would play the role of The Little Prince. The opera has since been widely performed in the USA and continental Europe.

Portman's music is often inspired by nature and the environment and, for over a decade, an increasing concern for the climate. Following its premiere at the BBC Proms in 2007, her dramatic choral symphony The Water Diviner's Tale was described in The Guardian as "a call to arms for the younger generation to tackle climate change". The text is by award winning poet Owen Sheers who tells the story of the travelling water diviner sharing his stories with a group of lost children and with the assistance from adult soloists, choir and orchestra, the music gives an emotional voice to the science behind climate change while seeking to inspire both the performers and the audience, to question our relationship with the earth.

In 2012 Portman was one of three world renowned composers invited by the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing to write an orchestral piece that would be performed to celebrate Wolrd Environment Day in June 2013. The resulting work Endangered, which needs no introduction, was Portman's response. In 2019, a writing partnership with poet and writer Nick Drake produced Earth Song for the BBC Singers and girl soprano. Portman and Drake wanted to create something that could embrace the earth's quality in a contemplative way and that could express the earth's voice if we could find a place of stillness to really listen. The girl soprano, singing words by Greta Thunberg, interpolates her message between each verse, entreating us to listen. The piece closes with silence, inviting the audience to listen, implicating thems in the work.

One of Portman's friends and collaborator is the acclaimed author Sir Michael Morpurgo. They met when she scored the music to the film of one of Morpurgo's books Private Peaceful. In 2014 they wrote the carol We Were There for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and youth chorus. Their next collaboration stayed with the Christmas theme- a music led animated Christmas special based on Sir Michael's book Mimi And The Mountain Dragon telling the story of a little girl called Mimi who, with her song and her courage, saves her village from its fears. It was commissioned and produced by Leopard Films, Factory Create and BBC Music. It screened on BBC1 on 26th December 2019 with simultaneous Decca release of the soundtrack performed by The BBC Philharmonic, the Halle's Family of choirs with soloists Esther Greaves and Claire Martin andconducted by Scott Dunn. The film can also be played in concert with live orchestra and choirs.

In February 2020 Portman recorded her first ever album as pianist and composer. Ask the River (2020) is music inspired by years immersed in nature. In the album Beyond the Screen(2023), she performs piano arrangements of her film music. Collaborations with Niklas Liepe, Jonas Kaufman, Raphaela Gromes and Martin Fröst have been created through her recording partnership with Sony.

Consistently inspired by nature, in 2021 Portman and librettist Gene Scheer wrote The First Morning of the World for mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato as part of her Eden project. In 2024 by they wrote the song cycle Another Eve also for DiDonato. In 2023 Tipping Points (2023) was commissioned for violinist Niklas Liepe. The work is a concerto for violin with the addition of spoken poems by Nick Drake. The poems grew out of a conversation between Portman and Drake about the classical elements, Earth, Water, Air and Fire. They have also collaborated on The Gathering Tree for the 2025 Last Night of the Proms.

Portman's recent projects include Dolomites, Pale Mountains for Alexander Gilman and LGT Young Soloists which premiered at The Merano International Festival in Summer 2025. The music was accompanied in concert by searingly beautiful images of the Dolomite Mountains by acclaimed photographer Geog Tappeiner. Filmscapes for Flute and Strings was commissioned by Massimo Mercelli who premiered the work at the Emilia Romagna Festival, also in summer 2025.

Portman was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours and is an Honorary Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford and of The Royal College of Music in London. She was the subject of BBC Radio 3 Composer of the Week in 2017.

12th December 2025

PERFORMERS: Washington National Opera

CONDUCTOR: Micah Gleason

LOCATION: Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, Washington, DC, United States of America

12th December 2025

The Little Prince (reduced orchestra)

PERFORMERS: Washington National Opera

CONDUCTOR: Micah Gleason

LOCATION: Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, Washington, DC, United States of America

13th December 2025

PERFORMERS: Washington National Opera

CONDUCTOR: Micah Gleason

LOCATION: Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, Washington, DC, United States of America

13th December 2025

The Little Prince (reduced orchestra)

PERFORMERS: Washington National Opera

CONDUCTOR: Micah Gleason

LOCATION: Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, Washington, DC, United States of America

14th December 2025

PERFORMERS: Washington National Opera

CONDUCTOR: Micah Gleason

LOCATION: Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, Washington, DC, United States of America

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