Culture Now Talks: Michael Nyman

Michael Nyman MBE is a composer, musicologist, pianist, conductor, author and more recently photographer and film-maker. He is most famously known for his minimalist film scores to Peter Greenaway classics such as The Draughtsman’s Contract (1982) and The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989) and other films such as Gattaca (1997), The Libertine (2004), Man On Wire (2008) and The Piano (1993).

Nyman’s score to the latter was nominated for a BAFTA award and Golden Globe and became a best-selling soundtrack album. Since 1976, he has directed the Michael Nyman Band and has written largely for stage. His operas include The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (1986), Facing Goya (2000), and the critically acclaimed Man and Boy: Dada (2003).

He has also provided ballet music for a number of the world's most distinguished choreographers. Having coined the term ‘minimalist music’ during his time as a music critic, Nyman is an internationally celebrated figure of contemporary concert music.