Daniel Elms

Daniel Elms is a British composer of music for the concert hall and film.

Elms’ music has been performed by members of the London Symphony Orchestra, Welsh National Opera, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the Aurora Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, the Balanescu Quartet, the Jubilee String Quartet, and soloists such as Richard Harwood, Thomas Gould, Peter Gregson, Joby Burgess and Giacomo Bigoni. He was the recipient of the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund Emerging Excellence Award in 2013.

Elms has collaborated extensively on work for feature film and theatre. He was involved with the BAFTA-nominated Ralph, the Academy-Award-nominated Library of Burned Books, Plaques and Tangles at Royal Court Theatre, and additional music for Taboo by Ridley Scott and Tom Hardy, for which he worked closely with fellow composer Max Richter.

His 2016 work, ‘Bethia’, commissioned by the British Film Institute, celebrates his hometown as part of Hull City of Culture 2017. ‘Bethia’ received the PRS Foundation’s New Music Biennial Award and was broadcast by BBC Radio 3.

Elms takes inspiration from progressive and humanist ideologies, addressing social, economic, and political relationships between people and cities.

Elms is currently working on his debut album of concert material, ‘Islandia’, at Abbey Road Studios. The album explores the sea and solitude, written on the East-Anglian coast whilst in residency at the former home of composer Imogen Holst.