LSO & Rachel Portman Project

The new project will offer the School’s students the opportunity to collaborate with one of the world’s most famous film ensembles in the LSO. Since as early 1935, the orchestra has been recording music specifically composed for film, becoming synonymous with blockbuster film scores, including the music for the Star Wars and Harry Potter films, Superman: The Movie, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark and Braveheart.

Guildhall students will also be receiving guidance and insights from one the UK’s most acclaimed film composers through the mentoring of Rachel Portman. She was the first female composer to win an Academy Award, for her score for Emma in 1996, and has received further Academy Award nominations for The Cider House Rules (1999) and Chocolat (2000). She also became the first female composer to win an Emmy Award in 2015, for the film Bessie and received a second Emmy in 2023 for her score for Julia.

In early 2025, I had the huge honour of being mentored by the legendary film composer Rachel Portman over the process of writing a new piece of music, which was recorded by the incredible world-renowned London Symphony Orchestra in March 2025.