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Film Composers Lab is the RSNO’s flagship professional development scheme which offers early-career  composers the experience of composing for the screen as well as the opportunity to collaborate with a professional orchestra. Working closely with the Orchestra, RSNO staff and experts from the film and music industries, the five participants will rescore an existing short film, creating a brand-new composition which will be recorded by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra at its world-class recording studio. Participants will be mentored by industry professionals John Lunn (Downton Abbey, Shetland, The Last Kingdom) and film and video game composer Danai Kokogia.

Rachel Mair

Rachel Mair is an Edinburgh-based New Zealand film composer, songwriter and performer. After majoring in music with a composition focus for her Bachelor of Arts and Science at The University of Otago in Dunedin, Rachel has gone on to score for many independent short films. In addition, she has a background in jazz, classical, pop and soul, as a singer, pianist and composer. She has mostly written scores for dramas, as well as a western and a horror film, and has won multiple composition awards. She is passionate about creating music that is expressive, emotive and fitting for film.

Thomas Booker-Price

Thomas Booker-Price is an award-winning composer based in Scotland whose professional experience includes work in the video game industry, composition of production music, and orchestral arrangement and production for singer-songwriters. After previously completing a PhD in Mathematics, he decided to pursue his love for orchestral composition and undertook an accelerated Masterclass in Media Composing and Score Analysis under the mentorship of Penka Kouneva. He has since achieved first place and been a finalist in numerous composing competitions. Thomas has a deep love of musical storytelling in film, particularly in the genres of period drama and fantasy. His musical style blends classical orchestration with modern cinematic sensibilities.

Lucy Hackett

Lucy is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer creating music for film, television, video games, and live performance. Blending acoustic recording with creative production and sound design, her work explores the space between traditional and contemporary styles. Her music has been featured and performed internationally (Vogue, Netflix, APM, The London Piano Festival) and published in a piano anthology of women composers. Recognised with the Amazon MGM Studios x PRS Foundation Prelude Scheme (2025) and Sound and Music’s Seed Award (2024), Lucy thrives on collaboration and the challenge of shaping sound to bring stories, visuals, and interactive worlds to life.

Daniel Abrahams

Daniel Abrahams is a composer, guitarist and double bassist working in the folk, jazz and contemporary scenes. With his groups Wayward Jane, Dowally and The Foo Birds, he has recorded multiple albums and performed across the UK. He has soundtracked two Scottish archive films, as well as award-winning Belgium short Les Racines de l’Eau.

In 2024, he was commissioned by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra to write Hope In The Dark, featuring a percussion instrument made from bicycle wheels. The Scotsman wrote that ‘…the stylish mix of blues and jazz with a nod to Scottish folk music in a beguiling violin solo was captivating.’ Daniel also works in educational and community settings, such as Nigel Osborne’s music therapy projects and SCO String Academy.

Sam Hall

Sam Hall is a UK based composer, orchestrator, songwriter, musical director, conductor, producer and multi-instrumentalist. Sam studied contemporary classical composition at the Royal College of Music with Mark-Anthony Turnage and has had his music and orchestrations played by first class orchestras including the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, The Southbank Sinfonia (BBC Proms) and the London Philharmonic Orchestra (Royal Festival Hall).

Sam recently composed additional music for Daniel Vildósola’s score for The Deputy, directed by Matt Sukkar starring William H Macey. Past projects as lead composer include Sealed with a Kiss directed by Darren Rapier, Dan? directed by Uzo Oleh and the game Limbot from Ionized Studios. Sam also works as a Musical Director and Multi-instrumentalist on West End, International and Touring shows.

To find out more about Film Composers Lab, head to rsno.org.uk/composers-lab/