Rachel Portman
b. 1960
British
Summary
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 has 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 Greta Thunberg. Portman scored the BBC1 animated Christmas special Mimi and the Mountain Dragon (2019) and in February 2020 recorded her first album as compser pianist for Node Records. Portman was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2010.
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)Biography
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.
News
Performances
14th December 2024
- PERFORMERS
- Opera in The Heights
- LOCATION
- Lambert Hall, Houston, TX, United States of America
15th December 2024
- PERFORMERS
- Opera in The Heights
- LOCATION
- Lambert Hall, Houston, TX, United States of America
21st December 2024
- PERFORMERS
- The Hallé
- LOCATION
- The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, United Kingdom
22nd December 2024
- PERFORMERS
- The Hallé
- LOCATION
- The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, United Kingdom
4th January 2025
- SOLOISTS
- Niklas Liepe
- PERFORMERS
- National Youth Orchestra of Ireland
- CONDUCTOR
- Jessica Cottis
- LOCATION
- National Concert Hall , Dublin, Ireland
Features
- Celebrating Women Composers
- Join Wise Music Group in celebrating the works of our female composers with this new brochure for 2024
- Our Earth | Focus on...Climate Change
- Celebrate the environmental consciousness of Wise Music Group composers as we explore the meeting of art and activism in compositions which echo the urgent call of our planet.
- Explore music by women for dance
- In response to requests from choreographers, dance and ballet companies we invite you to explore music in multiple styles and genres by women at the height of their composing game. From Missy Mazzoli, Maja Ratkje and Helen Grime, to Joan Tower, Kaija Saariaho, Gloria Coates and the new generation Hania Rani and Lisa Morgenstern, we are sure there’s something for everyone in this first in a series of specially curated features.
- The Best Recordings of 2023 from Wise Music Classical
- Wise Music Classical invites you to enjoy a selection of the best recordings of 2023, featuring composers from across our international family of publishing houses.
- 'Composing Myself' podcast by Wise Music
- Composing Myself is an official Wise Music Group podcast series celebrating Wise Music’s 50th anniversary, presented by CEO Dave Holley and Creative Director Gill Graham. Over the course of this series, they talk to various Wise Music published composers around the world about their lives in and out of music along with excerpts of the composers works included in the podcasts.