Anna Meredith

Anna Meredith emerged as a boundary-crossing composer and performer whose path began in classical circles before extending into electronica. Signed to Moshi Moshi, she combined propulsive electronic rhythms with otherworldly avant-pop textures. In 2004, while still in her mid-twenties, she was appointed composer in residence at the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, after which she produced works for the BBC and other high-profile cultural occasions. Following two EPs, she issued her first full-length indie-electronic statement, Varmints, in 2016; two years later her debut film score arrived with the theatrical release of Eighth Grade. Recognition came in 2019 when she received an MBE for services to music.

Born in London in 1978, Meredith relocated with her family to Edinburgh at age two. She studied clarinet and percussion at school before turning to composition, later attending Napier University and completing an undergraduate music degree at the University of York. She continued her training with a master’s degree at the Royal College of Music. The 2004 residency with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra led directly to her next post, PRS/RPS Composer in the House with Sinfonia ViVA, which she held through 2007. During those years she wrote multiple pieces for the BBC, most notably “Froms,” which reached forty million households when broadcast during the 2008 Proms. That exposure brought further opportunities, including serving as Goldie’s mentor on the documentary series Classic Goldie; she was also shortlisted for the 2009 Times Breakthrough Award and received the 2010 Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Composers.

While maintaining her acoustic classical output and exploring body percussion in the 2012 piece “HandsFree,” Meredith began developing a more hybrid electronic language and appeared on bills alongside James Blake and These New Puritans. Her distinctive, playful sound found a home at Moshi Moshi, which released the debut EP Black Prince Fury in December 2012. The follow-up EP, Jet Black Raider, appeared the next year and incorporated acoustic instruments alongside electronic elements. That fusion reached fuller expression on her 2016 debut album Varmints, which opened with the 2012 single “Nautilus.” The record earned widespread praise and was awarded Scottish Album of the Year.

Meredith soon expanded into additional formats. In 2016 she reimagined Vivaldi’s Four Seasons for the project Anno. The following year she created installations for the Manchester International Festival and the Barbican Centre. In 2018 she delivered her first film score for Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade and opened the Proms with “Five Telegrams,” a work marking the centenary of the First World War’s conclusion. Early in 2019 she was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire. Her second album, FIBS, followed in October of that year.