James Hannigan is a British Academy Award winning composer and music producer, known in part for his contributions to the HARRY POTTER, DEAD SPACE, EVIL GENIUS, RUNESCAPE, EA SPORTS, TRANSFORMERS, THE LORD OF THE RINGS, THEME PARK, WARHAMMER and COMMAND AND CONQUER video game series’.  His work in TV and Radio includes BBC America’s PRIMEVAL, award-winning BBC radio adaptations such as Neil Gaiman’s NEVERWHERE, Audible’s ALIEN dramas – and his music can be heard in countless other productions, ranging from TOP GEAR to THE GRAND TOUR.  He is also the founder of London Southbank based conference SCREEN MUSIC CONNECT and is the co-founder of GAME MUSIC CONNECT events.

   An IFMCA (Internationl Film Music Critics Assocation) Award winner for HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE (VG), James Hannigan’s numerous credits include RUNESCAPE (the world’s most popular free MMO), DEAD SPACE 3, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS, COMMAND AND CONQUER: RED ALERT 3 (the iconic theme of which, SOVIET MARCH, has received over 100 million listens across major streaming services), Nintendo’s ART ACADEMY (also featured in SUPER SMASH BROS.), TRANSFORMERS UNIVERSE, THEME PARK WORLD/SIM THEME PARK, entries in the WARHAMMER and SPACE HULK series; REIGN OF FIRE, GRAND PRIX, CUTTHROAT ISLAND, BRUTE FORCE, CATWOMAN, THE LORD OF THE RINGS: ARAGORN’S QUEST, HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX (VG), HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS (VG), THE DARKENING, FREELANCER, CONQUEST, COMMAND AND CONQUER 4: TIBERIAN TWILIGHT, POTTERMORE’S HARRY POTTER audiobooks read by Stephen Fry (the most listened-to series in history), entries in EA’s F1 & FIFA series’, and much more. 

   An innovator in interactive music, James created some of the earliest fully orchestral scores for video games – including those of the BAFTA-nominated REPUBLIC: THE REVOLUTION and EVIL GENIUS, developed by Eidos/Elixir Studios (led by Google DeepMind founder, Demis Hassabis).  Beginning his career years earlier as Electronic Arts Europe’s in-house composer, James cut his teeth on classic EA Sports titles, and scored several ‘God Games’ on the Bullfrog label (including the BAFTA award-winning THEME PARK WORLD) before basing himself at the legendary Pinewood Studios in West London.

    A sound designer as well as a composer, James Hannigan’s work can be heard in productions such as the Golden Reel-nominated LOST IN SPACE, and he writes using words as well as notes – once penning DEVELOP magazine’s first ever audio-related cover feature.

   With his music airing on radio stations such as Classic FM and Scala Radio, James has worked with numerous world class orchestras, including The Philharmonia Orchestra, The Chamber Orchestra Of London,  The Skywalker Symphony Orchestra and Slovak Symphony Orchestra – recording at  locations such as Air-Lyndhurst, Abbey Road Studios and Skywalker Ranch.  

   A frequent interviewee for BBC Radio and others, James has also been the subject of BAFTA’s ‘Conversations With Composers’ at the Royal Albert Hall, and his music has been performed in concert around the world by Video Games Live, The Eminence Symphony Orchestra, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and others.