New wave composer who really likes to sing

By Helen MUSA

ONE of the brightest new-wave stars in the international film and video-game composing scene is coming to Australia soon – just to Canberra.

Hayat Selim has been engaged by local creative producer Dianna Nixon, of Music Theatre Projects, to help create the score for an original stage musical about a legendary Egyptian screen idol, but she’ll make a couple of appearances, too.

A singer known for her vocals on “Age of Empires IV” and the film, “The Forgiven”, she’ll perform a concert at The Street Theatre themed around her own song, “Mirage”, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 for the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11.

There’ll also be a workshop at the ANU on February 15 contrasting the techniques in composing for films versus games, something bound to excite Prof Ken Lampl, himself a leading film and games composer.

I caught up with Selim by Zoom at her home in London, where she moved to do a masters in screen composition at the Royal College of Music.

Relaxed, humorous and smart, Selim