Composer/producer Chris Nicolaides is a classically trained pianist and violinist who has been creating music for both television and recording artists since 1990. Comfortable working in many genres from pop to orchestral, his recent work includes scoring the music for the forthcoming five-part BBC1 Landmark series, Empire, presented by Jeremy Paxman, and The Queen’s Palaces, a three-part series presented by Fiona Bruce, which aired in prime time from 12th Sept 2011 on BBC1. In 2010 another landmark series, David Dimbleby’s Seven Ages of Britain, aired on BBC1, BBC2 and BBC HD to over five million viewers. This broke the audience record for a BBC Arts series, which was previously held by the four-part BBC1 series THE VICTORIANS– Their Story in Pictures, presented by Jeremy Paxman and also scored by Chris! Requests from the public for a soundtrack release of these series have been astonishing, as was the case for the popular 12-part BBC series, Francesco’s Mediterranean Voyage (broadcast in July/August, 2008 on BBC1, BBC2 and BBC HD). Following their success on DVD, an album featuring themes from these series is scheduled for release in 2012.
August 2009 saw the start of the BBC2 series Saving Britain’s Past for which Chris composed the title music. Other recent BBC programmes featuring music by Chris include: How do you Solve a problem like Lolita?; Lost – The Mystery of Flight 447; Victoria: A Royal Love Story; The Private Life of an Easter Masterpiece; Gods & Monsters: Homer’s Odyssey; Treasures of the Anglo Saxons; Film 2010 and Springwatch. The Hollywood movie Tru Loved (2008) also featured Chris’s work.
In 2008, Chris Nicolaides completed the scoring for the eight-part BBC series, Dan Cruickshank’s Adventures in Architecture, having previously composed for the highly acclaimed BBC drama The Impressionists – the true story of the French painters – starring Julian Glover, which has now been sold by BBC Worldwide to over 100 countries.
Recent high-profile pop projects include recording credits on the Number One debut album Life in Cartoon Motion by Mika; production on tracks by chart-topping artist Chesney Hawkes; and production/composition with singer Mozez (from multi-million selling group Zero-7) for a forthcoming album. Mika returned to Chris’s studio to record tracks for his second album The Boy Who Knew Too Much on which Chris also contributed backing vocals!
For film, Chris was asked to contribute to the score of the highly successful Miramax movie The Importance of Being Earnest starring Reese Witherspoon, Colin Firth, Rupert Everett & Dame Judy Dench and after scoring a three-part BBC documentary, Paris in 2007, Chris was commissioned to compose two symphonic pieces of music for LEXUS cars, recorded by the world famous London Symphony Orchestra at AIR studios. These works were uniquely ‘performed’ by twelve Lexus LS460 cars (The Lexus Symphony Orchestra!) at various live classical concerts around the UK in the summer of 2007. (Click here to see the documentary on the creation of this unusual performance.)
Chris continues his writing/production with various artists at his studio in West London and is able to compose and produce music in many differing styles.
I have been passionate about music from a very young age, playing both classical piano and violin since I was seven years old. During my teens I spent hours at the piano every day, working out how to play songs that I liked... whether they were Pop, Rock or R&B. Writing songs followed naturally, while at the same time I was discovering quality film music by masters such as John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith. This inspired me to learn to compose for film and television. In 1990, a top BBC producer/director, John B Hobbs, was impressed enough to give me a chance at scoring the series "Mulberry", starring Geraldine McEwan. The passion for scoring to picture grew stronger, and the journey continues...