Biography

James Seymour Brett has scored projects in all genres and media.

His style ranges from the large, upscale orchestral grandeur of Batman Live, Walking With Dinosaurs & Planet 51, to smaller, more intimate works such as L'Histoire De Nos Petites Morts, Outpost, and The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers. In recent years James has enjoyed success on Network TV with two seasons of the cult drama Hex for Sky 1 and Crusoe for NBC. Also in his early career he was fortunate to have worked with the late Michael Kamen on projects such as Band Of Brothers and From The Earth To The Moon.

More recently James has collaborated with Roland Emmerich on major film work (2012, 10,000 BC, Anonymous) and with Stephen Frears on this year's Lay The Favourite, which demanded a quirky, Americana-style score covering rock, blues & folk genres. The movie stars Rebecca Hall, Bruce Willis and Catherine Zeta Jones.

This year marks a busy period as James will be composing the score for Pixar's latest blockbuster Planes directed by Klay Hall; an animated musical feature film called Saving Santa; and overseeing the release of his specially commissioned London Olympics 2012 album. He also masterminded and conducted the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations with the BBC, working alongside artists such as Elton John, Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox and Stevie Wonder.

James' previous projects include composing and writing arrangements for Alien Vs. Predator (20th Century Fox) and Ella Enchanted (Miramax). James' successful orchestral score for the Virgin Trains advertising campaign was nominated for the 2005 BTAA Craft Award (original music). Other commercial work includes Virgin Atlantic, two campaigns for Vodafone,Flora and Stella Artois.

After graduating from The Royal Academy Of Music in 1997 James was immediately hired by the acclaimed composer Michael Kamen. James' further contribution to film scores includes writing collaborations with Kamen on features such as The Event Horizon, What Dreams May Come, The Iron Giant, Frequency, X-Men The Movie, and the epic mini series,Band Of Brothers produced by Steven Spielberg. In this period James also co-produced and provided additional score on Paramount's Against The Ropes.

In 1999 James helped mastermind the ambitious and groundbreaking concert that saw Metallica pair up with The San Francisco Symphony Orchestra as assistant Musical Director. The album has since sold over 5 million copies worldwide. In 2002 James went on to plan and execute, again as assistant Musical Director and in close partnership with the BBC,Party At The Palace (part of the Queen's Golden Jubilee Celebrations). This unprecedented and star-studded event was broadcast live to a multi-million audience worldwide with a gold CD in less than a week. James co-ordinated and arranged many of the collaborations both with traditional rock pairings and new orchestral interpretations.

Prior to scoring the music for Walking With Dinosaurs, James attended the first of a series of high profile concerts at the Barbican in London, showcasing his new children's work The Sky Stone. James collaborated with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Chorus and a 60-voice children's choir sourced from schools to participate in large scale public concerts. The aim of the work is to challenge ordinary schools to participate in large-scale public concerts and, through making music of the highest standard broaden their artistic horizons. James has lectured as a composition professor at the Royal Academy Of Music since 1997 and is an ARAM.
- IMDb mini biography by: HotHouse Music Ltd.