Nicolas Errèra

Nicolas Errèra

Background information
Born	(1967-05-21) May 21, 1967 Paris, France
Genres	Film score, electronic music
Occupation(s)	Composer, pianist, producer
Instruments	Piano, percussion, keyboard
Years active	1998–present
Website	www.nicolaserrera.com

Nicolas Errèra (born 21 May 1967) is a french composer. Co-founder of electronics groups Grand Popo Football Club and Rouge Rouge, he also composes many soundtracks for movies and tv.

Biography

Nicolas Errèra comes from a family of artists. An only child, his father is a playwright and his mother a set designer. He was born in Paris.

He majored in science to attain his baccalaureate and also studied philosophy. When he was a teenager he joined the group of the English theatre director Peter Brook, under whom he featured in 3 plays. Alongside his studies he took lessons in piano and composing at the École normale de musique de Paris, studying under Serge Petigirard (piano) and Max Deutsch (composing). Here he was awarded his first prize for composing. He also studied Harmony and Counterpoint with the composer Joanne Richer.^[1]

A short time later he joined the Acousmatic music class in the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse. There he discovered another way of composing music, based on the dematerialisation of the sound source (making music with computers, synthesizers and so on). This opened his mind to a new artistic landscape. The originality of his compositions comes from his taste for eclecticism, mixing genres, assembling textures and developing melody. He creates composite music that is both erudite, sensitive and accessible. His musical world encompasses classical music and trip hop, Concrete music and Electronic music. In 1998 he set up the electro pop group Grand Popo Football Club^[2] and in 2002 he created the group Rouge Rouge. Both groups went on to be associated with the French touch The success of his songs “Each Finger has an Attitude”, “Men are not nice guys” and “L'Amour” earned him invitations to play in clubs and concert halls all over the world. Making music for movies was a natural progression.

The music he composes for films can enhance viewers’ experience while also conveying a classical and melodic sensitivity and introducing contemporary tones and emotions (electroacoustic sounds, concrete music, musical design, etc.)

The deeply varied portfolio of films for which he has composed music, along with his unusual and international musical career, reflect his commitment to composing pieces that celebrate and embrace diversity.

Works

Cinema

He has written music for more than 40 French and international films, including Sleepless Night (2011 film)^[3] by Frédéric Jardin, Sticky Fingers (2009 film) by the Canadian film-maker Ken Scott (filmmaker), Nocturna (film) by Spain's Victor Maldonado and Adrian Garcia, La Personne aux deux Personnes by Nicolas & Bruno, and The Butterfly (2002 film) with Michel Serrault. In 2008 the success in China of the film The Butterfly^[4] (which was watched by more than 10 million people)^[5] led to a meeting with the Hong Kong director Benny Chan (film director). This paved the way for him to work in Asian movies , as he composed the soundtracks for three of Chan's films – The White Storm,^[6] Shaolin (film) ^[7] and Connected (film).

Television

As with his work for the cinema, Errèra wrote the music for fictional TV series such as XIII: The Conspiracy, XIII: The Series the French-Canadian series adapted from the graphic novels by William Vance and Jean Van Hamme. He also wrote music for television movies for Alain Tasma, and many more. In 2006 Errèra met the photographer and director Jean-Baptiste Mondino, with whom he regularly collaborates on music for promotional films for prestigious brands (including (Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Chanel, Givenchy and many more).

Theatre

In 2008 Errèra met John Malkovich. He composed the music for two productions directed by the American, namely: Good Canary by Zach Helm, directed by John Malkovich in the Théâtre Comedia (awarded the 2008 Molière prize for best director), and, in 2012, Les Liaisons Dangereuses,^[8] directed by John Malkovich in the Théâtre de l'Atelier in Paris. The production has also a limited engagement in July 2013 at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts^[9] in New York City

Radio

In 1999 he met Jean-François Bizot, the founder of Actuel magazine and Radio Nova. Since 2004 he has been producing and hosting a programme on Radio Nova (France) entitled Le Pudding,^[10] (every Sunday from 8pm).^[11] This is a cultural show that takes the form of an open, wide-ranging conversation with a range of guests (philosophers, sociologists, writers, ethnologists, etc.), none of whom are trying to sell anything but all of whom have plenty of interesting things to say.