Cornish grew up in England, where she studied violin, piano and composition from an early age. She studied composition with Dr. Anthony Gilbert at the Royal Northern College of Music, and completed her master's degree at the Royal College of Music. She is a recipient of the Edward Hecht Composition Prize, the RNCM Composition Prize and the Associated Board Prize for the Most Outstanding Scholar of the Year. Cornish was also made a Major Scholar of the RNCM.
Music
Solo albums
''Duende''
released Cornish's first chamber music album, Duende, in April 2014. The album was met with positive critical acclaim. Fanfare described it as "extraordinarily deep music". Barry Kilpatrick at American Record Guide said it "...grabbed my attention immediately and never let go." Artists featured on the album include Miranda Cuckson, Blair McMillen and The Lee Trio.
''Continuum''
released an album, Continuum on 31 July 2015. Continuum was performed by Decoda, Carnegie Hall's Affiliate Ensemble. WQXR wrote: "Continuum is a font of wistfulness and melancholic beauty". and named it Q2 Music Album of the Week Continuum was also featured on WNYC-FM New Sounds.
''Into Silence''
Innova Recordings released the album, Into Silence on 25 August 2017. Music from the album has been played on BBC Radio 3, KEXP and WNYC-FM New Sounds. John Schaefer commented that the work had "unappeased yearning" with a "tender earthbound comfort". New York City Ballet principal Ask la Cour choreographed a pas de deux to the title track which was filmed and released with the album. Dance Spirit Magazine featured the film and described it as "impossibly gorgeous shapes form and dissolve in the haunting black-and-white setting of the Martha Graham Studios in NYC". The pas de deux was performed as part of the tour in 2017 by Ask la Cour and Teresa Reichlen. Constellations Constellations was released on July 27, 2018. Lux from the album was featured on WNYC-FM New Sounds and described as "a long-form spacious sound structure created from acoustic instruments like piano and strings, but stretched with electronics into a entire musical cosmos." Tom Schnabel at KCRW called Constellations "patient, virtuosic and mesmerizing" and included it in his August Music mix. Seascapes Seascapes was released August 2019. Seascapes was featured on WNYC-FM New Sounds July New Releases show and the album has been met with positive critical acclaim. World Music Report described Seascapes as "...absolutely breathtaking. The work is set in three separate sequences, each seeming to transpose the immense aspect of a sea that is observed, heard and felt as by body, mind and spirit." Seascapes I, II and III from the album were premiered at the in June 2019, conducted by Ken David Masur. Broadway World reviewed the concert: "Sensitively conducted by Ken-David Masur, the ethereal three movement work held the audience in absolute stillness at its conclusion. This was the World Premiere performance of Seascapes. May it have a long and happy life."
Film scores
Cornish has also written music for films, including Fireflies in the Garden and Five Children and It, and was named one of the UK Film Council's Breakthrough Brits in Hollywood in 2005. She has been nominated for Breakthrough Composer of the Year by the International Film Music Critics Association and was nominated for a Robert Award for Best Score for her soundtrack to Island of Lost Souls. Cornish has also orchestrated films, including Kung Fu Panda and Maleficent. She was the composer for the 2017 documentary film, Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood.
Awards
In 2005 Cornish was awarded a British Academy of Film and Television Arts for Television Craft: Anthony Asquith Award for New British Composer, for her work on Five Children and It. She was the first female in history to win a BAFTA for music. In 2008 ASCAP's Rudolf Nissim Prize jury honoured Cornish with a Special Distinction for her orchestral tone poem, Symphony. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences invited Jane Antonia Cornish to become a member in 2019.
