Biography

Background

Nicolas Errèra is born in Paris, comes from a family of artists. An only child, his father is a playwright and his mother a set designer.

He majored in science to attain his baccalaureate and also studied philosophy.

When he was a teenager he joined the group of the English theatre director Peter Brook, under whom he featured in 3 plays.

Alongside his studies he took lessons in piano and composing at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris, studying under Serge Petigirard (piano) and Max Deutsch (composing). He studied Harmony and Counterpoint with the composer Joanne Richer. He also studied composition for films with Laurent Petitgirard. He was awarded his first prize for composing.

A short time later he joined the acousmatic music class in the France’s National Higher Conservatory for Music and Dance. There he discovered another way of composing music, based on the dematerialisation of the sound source (making music with computers, synthesizers and so on). This opened his mind to a new artistic landscape. The originality of his compositions comes from his taste for eclecticism, mixing genres, assembling textures and developing melody. He creates composite music that is both erudite, sensitive and accessible. His musical world encompasses classical music, musique concrète and electronica.

Group and Live Experience

In 1998 he set up the electro pop group “Grand Popo Football Club” (with Ariel Wizman) and in 2002 he created the group “Rouge Rouge” (with Jean Croc). Both groups went on to be associated with the ‘French Touch’ genre. The success of his songs “Each Finger has an Attitude”, “Men are not nice guys” and “L’Amour” earned him invitations to play in clubs and concert halls all over the world. Making music for movies was a natural progression.

Composition

The music he composes for films can enhance viewers’ experience while also conveying a classical and melodic sensitivity and introducing contemporary tones and emotions (electroacoustic sounds, musique concrète, musical design.)

The deeply varied portfolio of films for which he has composed music, along with his unusual and international musical career, reflect his commitment to composing pieces that celebrate and embrace diversity.

Nicolas Errera on IMDb

WORKS

Cinema Television Theater Commercial Radio

Cinema

He has written music for more than 50 french and international films, including Kalinka (Au nom de ma fille) by Vincent Garenq, Sleepless Night by Frédéric Jardin, Les Doigts Croches by the Quebecois film-maker Ken Scott, The Lookout by the italian director Michele Placido, Nocturna by Spain's Victor Maldonado and Adrian Garcia, and The Butterfly ( Le papillon) with Michel Serrault. In 2008 the success in China of the film The Butterfly (which was watched by more than 10 million people) led to a meeting with the Hong Kong director Benny Chan. This paved the way for him to work in Asian movies, as he composed the soundtracks for three of Chan's films – (The White Storm, Shaolin and Connected), and Mountain Cry by Larry Yang

Television

As with his work for the cinema, Errèra wrote the music for fictional TV series such as XIII, the French-Canadian series adapted from the graphic novels by William Vance and Jean Van Hamme. He also wrote music for television movies for Alain Tasma (Alias Caracalla, L'Héritière, Emma) , Xavier Durringer (Rouge Sang, Ne m'abandonne pas ) and many more.
Since 2006 he has composed original music for the documentary series Meeting in unknown land (Rendez-vous en terre inconnue) created by Frédéric Lopez.

Theater

In 2008 Errèra met John Malkovich. He composed the music for two productions directed by the American, namely: Good Canary by Zach Helm, directed by John Malkovich in the Théâtre Comedia (awarded the 2008 Molière prize for best director), and, in 2012, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, directed by John Malkovich in the Théâtre de l'Atelier in Paris.

Commercial

In 2006 Errèra met the photographer and director Jean-Baptiste Mondino, with whom he regularly collaborates on music for promotional films for prestigious brands (including Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, Givenchy and many more).

Radio

In 1999 he met Jean-François Bizot, the founder of Actuel magazine and Radio Nova.
Since 2004 he has been producing and hosting a programme on Radio Nova entitled Le Pudding (Sunday from 8pm).
This is a cultural show that takes the form of an open, wide-ranging conversation with a range of guests (philosophers, sociologists, writers, ethnologists, etc.), none of whom are trying to sell anything but all of whom have plenty of interesting things to say.