The Grand Scores 2016, initiated and curated by Moët & Chandon Germany, were organised in Berlin on 10 February 2016 as an intimate award ceremony dedicated to the celebration of international film music and its composers – casting the light on the value of film music composition and its unique contribution to the most emotional cinematic experiences. 

ECSA, as the organisation representing film and audio-visual composers and songwriters on the European level, was the official content partner of this highend

event whose role was to develop a fair and well thought-out selection procedure ahead of the award ceremony. The Grand Scores International Jury with its members Anne Dudley, Javier Navarette, Philippe Rombi and Stephen Warbeck was in charge of selecting the winners for the Best Orchestral and the Best Electro-Acoustic score. The awardees of the honorary categories Outstanding Contribution and Exceptional Creative Partnership have been handpicked by an ECSA expert group.

 

The award ceremony was held at the beautiful Ballroom of the Hotel de Rome in Berlin where about hundred invited guests enjoyed the celebrations in form of a seated dinner. The ceremony reunited renowned international film music composers, film directors, actors and representatives of the film music industry to honour film music and its multiple facets created by gifted composers.

 

The nominees for the Best Orchestral Score announced during the night were:

 

Bruno Coulais (France) for Le chant de la Mer (Song of the Sea)

Pascal Gaigne (Spain) for Loreak (Flowers)

Gary Yershon (United Kingdom) for Mr Turner

 

Gary Yershon was presented with the Grand Scores Best Orchestral Score Award by Chris Smith, film music composer and member of the Grand Scores steering committee from the very beginning.

 

The nominees for the Best Electro-Acoustic Score were also announced during the night:

 

Trond Bjerknes (Norway) for Operasjon Arktis (Operation Arctic)

Timo Hietala (Finland) for Aikuisten Poika (Boy Upside Down)

Jonas Struck (Denmark) for Idealisten (The Idealist)

 

Timo Hietala was presented with the Grand Scores Best Electro-Acoustic Score Award by Anne Dudley, Oscar-award-winning film music composer from Great Britain.

 

The award for Exceptional Creative Partnership, one of the honorary categories, was presented to film music composer Patrick Doyle and film director Kenneth Branagh by the renowned British film music composer Stephen Warbeck for their long-time collaboration. The ceremony ended with the Outstanding Contribution award presented to Eric Serra by ECSA Vice-President Bernard Grimaldi for his impressive career and talent composing so many well-known film scores.