User:Vanessajamesmusic

(Carolina) Vanessa James (born 24 September, 1984) is a British composer and pianist. She was born in the North of England but now lives in London where her studio is based.

Her work mainly lies in film and television scoring where she has scored for various formats, from Hollywood gangster feature films (Ready to Die), to Independent British short films (Kosher, Underground, Rahab), to well known TV adverts such as the 2011 Hyundai 'New Thinking New Possibilities' worldwide campaign, where her solo piano score sparked global interest. After finding her piano scores were in demand from listeners around the globe, she was asked to compose a solo piano album of works independent from film & Television. This has become her debut solo piano album 'Paintings on Piano', due for release in June 2011, and is a collection of short stories told on piano. The album was completely self-made in that James composed, recorded, performed the pieces and also designed/illustrated the album artwork herself.

She is the co-owner of the commercial recording studios 'Peak Studios' in the North of England, where most of her scores have been recorded. She uses 'Magpie recordings' to release her material, including the anthemic orchestral rock band 'Starling' for whom she song-writes, produces and performs with. Their debut album 'Public Service' was released in 2009 and is sold on itunes and Amazon. They have performed at London's famous O2 and for BBC radio. 'Starling' will be releasing their 2nd album later this year. Since a young age, Vanessa James has been touring worldwide playing to audiences of thousands in prestigious venues with various bands throughout her career, though composition has always been her first love.

She began learning the piano from age 4 and composed her first piece of film music aged 8, inspired by John Williams' score for E.T. which began the love affair with film music. She went on to study piano and composition with professors Philip Wilby (BBC composer), Mic Spencer (Modern classical composer) and award winning pianist and piano tutor Paul Wilkinson. Since graduating from the School of Music (Leeds University) with a composition degree, she has worked full time as a composer.

Alongside the music, In 2008 Vanessa completed writing a book on her mothers life story, who as a child was kidnapped in Colombia and left to survive in the Jungle for many years. The book is due for release with the help of literary agent Andrew Lownie and will be published after Dragonfly TV have created a documentary featuring the story.