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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.

Bradley Ayres

Bradley Ayres is a Bristol-based composer whose recent work includes natural history and documentary films for RTÉ One. A graduate of Cardiff University, where he studied composition and ethnomusicology, Bradley is drawn to writing thematic music that brings emotional depth to visual storytelling. His influences span the Romantic repertoire, folk music and contemporary cinematic production. His work ranges from intimate, textural or piano-led compositions to expansive orchestral arrangements. He particularly enjoys collaborating with live musicians, regularly incorporating small ensembles and soloists into his scores to bring expressiveness, warmth and a sense of realism to his music.

Manuela Lubrano

Manuela Lubrano is an Italian film and media composer based in Bristol. Her work centres on telling unheard stories through music for films that raise awareness and inspire social change. Manuela’s distinctive sound blends contemporary orchestration, electronic textures, and her own voice to create immersive, emotionally charged scores. Her music has been featured internationally, with her debut score for When the Floods Come, winner of the Yugo BAFTA 2024, earning nominations for Best Original Score at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards (2024) and Best Score at the RTS West of England Awards (2025). Recent work includes award-winning documentary Stone Biter: Saving the Arctic Sea Forests and Jackson Wild-nominated feature documentary The Tuna Truth.

Deborah Shaw

Deborah Shaw is a composer, pianist, harpist and vocalist from County Durham. Her work bridges contemporary classical, jazz and experimental electronica, combining acoustic instruments, ethereal vocals and found sounds to create distinctive sonic landscapes. She has collaborated with Cinetopia and the MINT Chinese Film Festival to re-score 1920s cinema with a contemporary feminist perspective. Her composition Flutter – An Exploration of Tourette’s Syndrome for four voices and electronics was commissioned by SMHAF and presented at Cryptic Nights in 2026. Releasing music as Aurora Engine, Deborah blends song, instrumental music and synthesised textures, often embedding sounds of nature and post-industrial soundscapes reflecting her working-class roots. She has recently performed at Celtic Connections, Boomtown and Belladrum Festivals.

Jenna Stewart

Jenna Stewart is a composer and producer based in Edinburgh. She received the BBC Young Composer award in 2021, followed by a commission of her piece Unchanging Purpose for the BBC Concert Orchestra, performed as part of the Proms Festival in 2022. Jenna works on a variety of genres of music for artists through her recording, production, mixing and mastering in her studio in central Edinburgh, which she built following her graduation from studying music in 2025. Jenna is also a songwriter and releases music under her artist name Jen Kirsten, with a fusion of different genres in her sound including soul, folk, pop and classical.

Rupert Uzzell

Rupert is a versatile and award-winning composer. A classically trained pianist and organist, he studied at the Royal College of Music and University of Edinburgh. He composes in an eclectic variety of styles and genres, ranging from classical to jazz to electronic. He has worked on numerous film and media projects, always seeking to think outside the box and demonstrate the tremendous emotional and thematic depth an imaginative score can add to storytelling. Recent projects include Boys on Film 23: Dangerous to Know which was screened on Film 4, and the horror short Wrapped in Celluloid, which required a Bernard Herrmann inspired score that has been nominated for several awards.

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