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Alex Heffes (/ˈhɛfəs/;[1] born 2 September 1971) is a British film composer. His film scores include those for the BAFTA-winningTouching the Void, and Oscar-winning moviesOne Day in September,The Last King of Scotland, andInside Job. Heffes was nominated for theGolden Globe Award for Best Original Score for his work onMandela: Long Walk to Freedom.[2]
Heffes was born inBeaconsfield,Buckinghamshire, and learned the piano from an early age. He graduated from Oxford University with first class honours and started his professional life playing keyboards and writing and arranging for commercials and TV (his band is featured playing in jazz club scenes in the film Circus). This led to him becoming assistant to composerSimon Boswell with whom he scored over 20 movies includingA Midsummer Night's Dream andCousin Bette. He also collaborated onElton John's score toWomen Talking Dirty and worked with members ofBlur.[3][4]
In 1999, after a chance meeting withKevin Macdonald he wrote the score to the Oscar winning documentaryOne Day in September.[5] This led to a long collaboration with Macdonald, on films such asTouching the Void,State of Play andThe Last King of Scotland. During the production ofLast King of Scotland he travelled to Uganda to produce the songs and score in the movie.[5] He has worked with many notable directors includingStephen Frears (The Program),Mira Nair (Queen of Katwe),Justin Chadwick (The First Grader,Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom),Peter Webber (Emperor) andCatherine Hardwick (Red Riding Hood). He contributed additional arrangements to Tim Burton'sSweeney Todd.
In 2011 he released his first solo album,Face to Face. The album was created by improvising on location in a series of one on one collaborations with artists such asRegina Spektor,Ryuichi Sakamoto andTunde Jegede. The tracks withMatthew Barley were recorded in the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern in London.[3]
He has been nominated for a Golden Globe,[2] aBAFTA[6] and won an Ivor Novello Award in 2012 forThe First Grader.[7]
He always conducts his own orchestral scores[8] and frequently plays piano on his scores.
| Year | Title | Studio/Channel | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Killer Net | Channel 4 Television Corporation | withSimon Boswell miniseries |
| 2002 | Stan the Man | ITV | 6 episode miniseries |
| 2006 | Tsunami: The Aftermath | BBC HBO Films | 2 part miniseries |
| 2012 | Secret State | Company Pictures Channel 4 | 4 episode miniseries |
| 2016 | 11.22.63 | Bad Robot Warner Bros. Television | Hulu limited series 8 episodes |
| Roots | History Channel | 4 part miniseries | |
| Black MirrorSeries 3 Episode 3: Shut Up and Dance | Netflix | - | |
| 2018 | Next of Kin episodes 1-3 | Mammoth Screen ITV | 6 part miniseries, music for episodes 4-6 composed by Peter Bateman |
| 2020 | A Suitable Boy | BBC One | 6 episode miniseries |
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