biography
James Hannigan is a BAFTA Award-winning composer known for scores spanning AAA video games, television and audio drama. An International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) and Webby People’s Voice Award winner, with five additional BAFTA nominations, his work in games includes entries in major franchises such as Harry Potter, Warhammer, Evil Genius, FIFA, F1, Grand Prix, Transformers, Theme Park, The Lord of the Rings, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Art Academy and Command & Conquer, as well as titles such as RuneScape, Dead Space 3 and Steelrising.
His television credits include Primeval, while his work in full-cast audio drama and audiobooks features major productions including The Sandman (Amazon/Audible’s best-selling Original), DC’s Kingdom Come, and the Discworld, Harry Potter and Audie award-winning Alien series. | LISTEN
Hannigan’s music – including the parodic Red Alert 3 Theme: Soviet March – has been streamed hundreds of millions of times. Recorded with ensembles including the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios, AIR Studios and Skywalker Sound, his scores have been performed in concerts around the world. His work has featured solo performances from Regé-Jean Page (for The Sandman: The Song of Orpheus), and musicians such as Zsolt-Tihamér Visontay, Miranda Keys, Pete Lockett, and Miriam Stockley.
Music licensed from his catalogue is widely heard in television series including Top Gear, The Grand Tour, Emily in Paris, Saturday Night Live and multiple Harry Potter specials, as well as countless trailers and promos. Other credits include BBC Radio 4 adaptations of Neverwhere, Stardust and Good Omens, and tracks featured in Terraria and Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. As Sound Designer in film, his early credits include the Golden Reel-nominated Lost in Space. | NEWS
A conference founder and occasional writer, he has appeared on the cover of DEVELOP magazine, written for Classic FM and Pixel Addict, and is co-founder of Screen Art Connect events, formerly held at London’s Southbank Centre in partnership with PlayStation, BAFTA, the Ivors Academy, PRS for Music, Classic FM, Music Week and Electronic Arts. He also writes on his own blog on subjects ranging from vintage arcade machines to the implications of AI Music.
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Beginning his career in the mid-1990s as Electronic Arts Europe’s in-house composer, Hannigan later transitioned to freelance work at Pinewood Studios. Highlights from this period include Theme Park World (BAFTA Award, 2000), Evil Genius (BAFTA nomination, 2005) and Republic: The Revolution (BAFTA nomination, 2004) – the latter designed by Demis Hassabis, now CEO of Google DeepMind. Other credits from this era include Privateer 2: The Darkening (featuring Christopher Walken, Clive Owen and John Hurt), Freelancer, Cutthroat Island, Space Hulk, Brute Force, Warhammer: SotHR, Grand Prix 4 and numerous EA Sports titles.
A fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a longstanding BAFTA member, Hannigan has been interviewed by BBC Radio, Classic FM, Sky TV, IGN, Forbes and MusicRadar, and has spoken at institutions and events including the Royal College of Music, the School of Sound, EIGF, Musicworks, Ludomusicology and the DEVELOP Conference; in 2012, he was featured in BAFTA’s Conversations with Composers series held at the Royal Albert Hall.
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James Hannigan doesn’t use social media