Rick Wentworth is a BAFTA-nominated film and TV composer, conductor, orchestrator and arranger.
Composer
His work in film began with composing the score for Withnail and I, directed by Bruce Robinson in 1987, followed by Robinson's second film How To Get Ahead in Advertising. Both were produced by Handmade Films. Wentworth's TV credits include the Jonathan Creek, four seasons of the ITV drama Ultimate Force for Bentley Productions, Between the Lines and Cracker for which Wentworth received a BAFTA nomination. He has also written music for many advertising campaigns, including Nissan, Kellogs, American Express, Burger King, American Airlines, Ford and Guinness.
Conducting
In addition to conducting his own work, Wentworth has conducted film scores including Tomb Raider, Charlie and the Chocolate FactoryHellboy II, Notorious B.I.G., the Oscar-nominated Milk, The Boys Are Back, Alice in Wonderland, Dark Shadows and Frankenweenie. His string arrangements can be heard on tracks from artists including The Lightning Seeds, Blur, Del Amitri and in 2008/09 Musical Direction for the Rough Trade artistes Belle & Sebastian and Codeine Velvet Club.
Collaborations
His formative work involved assisting the late composer Sir Michael Tippett bring his opera The Ice Break to its premier performance at the Royal Opera House. Wentworth has a long association with Pink Floyd founding member Roger Waters, and co-produced, orchestrated and conducted the music for his opera, Ça Ira. The opera was recorded in USA and Europe featuring Bryn Terfel, Paul Groves and Ying Huang. It reached No.1 in the American classical chart, and received Platinum sales in Poland. He conducted the world premiere of the overture from Ça Ira in 2002, played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall. He also arranged and conducted a collection of Roger Waters's tracks, fronted by Waters and his band. He has since conducted the world premier performance of the opera in Rome followed by performances in Poland, Kiev and at the Manaus Opera House in the Brazilian Rainforest of the Amazon. Ça Ira opened the opera season at the Theatro Municipal in São Paulo in April 2013. All performances were conducted by Rick to sell-out audiences. In August of the same year he conducted Ça Ira which opened the annual Cultural Festival at the Gotaplatsen in Gothenburg and featured an international cast of singers, Sally Matthews, Bryan Hymel, Owen Gradus and Christian Van Horn including Roger Waters who acted as narrator to an audience of over ten thousand. Wentworth also orchestrated and conducted the modern opera Guilietta e Romeo in 2007 for European composer Riccardo Cocciante, which had its premiere at the Arena in Verona and has subsequently toured throughout Italy. Other collaborations include writing and producing songs with George Benson, Patti Austin, Grace Jones and Paul McCartney, who commissioned him to orchestrate and conduct a personal animated film entitled The Light From Within. Wentworth also orchestrate arrangements for McCartney's televised appearance at the Nobel Peace Prize presentations. He also collaborated with writer David Levin and wrote six songs for his 2009 musical production People, which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival in that year. Wentworth has served on the panel of judges for the British Academy of Film and Television Awards and the Royal Television Society Awards, and is a current serving Board member of the Akram Khan Dance Company.
