Composer Details

Born in 1958, Scottish composer Craig Armstrong has established an international reputation as a composer and arranger. His distinctive and eloquent style is an amalgamation of his diverse musical experience: he studied classical violin at the Royal Academy of Music and went on to win the GLAA Young Jazz Musician of the Year in 1982; he then returned to his native Glasgow where he entered the city's vibrant band culture as a member of Hipsway, Texas and The Big Dish and was appointed Composer-in-Residence at the Tron Theatre.

Since 1996, Craig has written some 20 film scores. His work with director Baz Luhrman resulted in a number of awards, including the Ivor Novello Award for Best Original Score and the Anthony Asquith BAFTA for Romeo + Juliet (1996), and a Golden Globe for the score to Moulin Rouge (2001). Also included in his prestigious list of film credits are Plunkett & Macleane (1999) starring Robert Carlyle, The Magdalene Sisters (2002), The Quiet American (2002) starring Michael Caine, Richard Curtis's 2003 blockbuster Love Actually, and Taylor Hackford's recently released Ray (2004).

As an arranger he has worked with artists such as U2 and Madonna, for whom he provided the string arrangements for “Frozen” and “The Power of Goodbye” on the Ray of Light album. Craig's arrangements for Massive Attack's Protection album led to his being signed by their record label, Melankolic. His first album of original music The Space Between Us was released in 1998, and was followed in 2002 by a second, As If To Nothing, which features a series of collaborations with artists including Bono, Evan Dando and Mogwai. As a classical composer he has been commissioned by many major organizations such as the Scottish Ensemble, the Barbican Centre (as part of their highly acclaimed Elektronica festival in 2002) and most recently the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. His third album Piano Works was released on the Sanctuary label in 2004 and will be followed by a Film Works release in 2005.