Short Bio:

 

Martin Higgins has worked continuously as an orchestrator for film and theatre since graduating from the University of Birmingham.  He has provided orchestrations for many shows playing in the West End including 'Working' (Southwark Playhouse - Music by Stephen Schwartz), 'Sondheim: Smiles of A Summer Night' (Cadogan Hall - Music by Stephen Sondheim) and 'Kings of Broadway' (Palace Theatre - Music by Stephen Sondheim, Jule Styne and Jerry Herman). He is also the current orchestrator for the annual Whatsonstage Awards presented each year at The Prince of Wales Theatre, a position he has held since 2015.

 

It was at The University of Birmingham where Martin met the composer/musical director Alex Parker, with whom he has collaborated ever since. They have written a number of original musicals including; 'After You' - the first commissioned musical at Crazy Coqs Zedel, 'Amateur Dramatics: A Musical Comedy' which entered professional workshops in 2017, and a musical adaptation of 'The Railway Children' which will be presented in concert early next year.

 

Outside of the theatre Martin has worked in the music department for a number of Hollywood films including the Disney blockbuster 'Cinderella', 'A United Kingdom' and 'Whisky Galore'. He collaborated with the composer Jack Blume to provide the orchestrations and background scores for several award-winning Tamil films including; 'Uttama Villain', 'Papanasam' and 'Vaagai Sooda Vaa'. His successful collaboration with Jack led to the formation of Movie Music London, a company specialising in providing music for use in film, theatre and television all over the world. Martin has just finished work on Sony's upcoming 'Emoji Movie' and will begin work on Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of 'Murder On The Orient Express' due for release later this year.

 

Martin's orchestrations have been a part of several projects winning international awards including; The Los Angeles Independent Film Festival award for 'Best Original Music', The International Independent Film Platinum Award for 'Best Original Score' and The Vijay Award for 'Best Background Score'. He also provided the arrangements for the charity concert 'Playing Our Part' which was nominated for Broadwayworld.com's 'Theatrical Event of The Year' award,

 

Martin Higgins - "The author of the masterly orchestrations, both lush and deft, that provided the greatest pleasures and surprises." - Britishtheatre.com (All Aboard)

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"It’s a quality of Martin Higgins’s orchestrations that the raucous bar-room blues and all-hands-on-deck gospel so often gives way to a slinky, stripped-down jazz that shows off the vocal lines to best effect." - The Guardian (The Color Purple)

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Martin's Full Credits (PDF)