In Concert with the Halle Orchestra - photo - philip Shotton

Sacha Puttnam

Sacha Puttnam grew up in the film and music worlds. Mentored at a young age by Quincy Jones and Vangelis he went on to study at the Moscow ‘Tchaikovsky’ Conservatory (Conducting and Composition) and Berklee College of Music. Having completed his classical and jazz training he went on to tour the world with multi-platinum rock band Bush. His comprehensive experience and knowledge in all music genres shows in his imaginative and sensitive scoring of over thirty films (working with directors including John Dryden, John Pilger, Robert le Page and Andrea Arnold ), numerous radio dramas, podcasts and adverts, as well as his re-working of classic film and his original, intimate piano and full orchestral compositions. Sacha has written and arranged for some of the pop and rock world’s biggest names, scoring multi-platinum albums, and has worked with Moscow, Hallé, and London Studio Orchestras

Most recently Sacha scored Breuer’s Bohemia, a documentary feature directed by James Crump about the Bauhaus designer and architect Marcel Breuer, a ten-part podcast documentary about the 1981 Pakistan Airlines hijack, and a two-part drama for BBC Radio 4, The Jungle Book set in modern day Mumbai.

He is currently working on two independent films, one a period drama set in Ireland, and the other a Hollywood quest filled adventure.

Sacha’s most recent album, Spirit of Cinema, was released in November 2020 with a podcast of the same name accompanying each track discussing the original pieces, his versions of them and the films they appeared in.

Click on the image above to listen to the wonderfully exotic and emotive Istanbul (Theme From Midnight Express) by Giorgio Moroder from his Oscar winning score in a version for piano and orchestra by Sacha Puttnam

Listen to Spirit of Cinema on Spotify. Film composer Sacha Puttnam talks us through each track on his new album, Spirit of Cinema, celebrating the films, the music, and the people that make them. Each podcast features a piece of music from films Sacha grew up with, his orchestral versions, interviews with the film makers and original composers.

Sacha takes us behind the scenes with Rachel Portman to discuss her gem of a score for War of the Buttons, his own Spirit of Cinema arrangement and becoming the first female recipient for Best Score at the Oscars.

Gold Lion award winner at Cannes

Best Documentary Debut, Golden Ryton Festival, Bulgarian Film Centre
Best Film (Main Award) Dock International Documentary Historical Film Festival Burgas
Critics Award, ‘Euroasian Bridge’, Yalta international Film Festival,
Best Film (Main Award), Russia Abroad Film Festival