Vita

Anne-Sophie Versnaeyen is a French film music composer and songwriter based in Paris.

From her classical background studying at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris - Formation Supérieur aux Métiers du Son, she has developed a successful career as a film composer notably writing the music for Nicolas Bedos’ La Belle Epoque which was nominated for 11 César Awards and presented at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.

La Belle Epoque follows a series of film releases including: Rayhana’s I Still Hide To Smoke (A mon age, je me cache encore pour fumer), Grand Prize winner at the Mediterranean film festival; Laurent Charbonnier's documentary Chambord celebrating the 500th anniversary of Chambord Castle for which she was nominated by the IFMCA as ‘Breakthrough Composer of the Year’; Mon Cousin, the latest film from Jan Kounen (Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky). She is currently working on Nicolas Bedos’ lastest film OSS 117 Alerte Rouge en Afrique Noire from the hit series of films OSS 117, set to be released early 2021.

From her first feature film in 2011, Jérôme Le Gris’ Requiem for a Killer starring Mélanie Laurent, Versnaeyen's music is marked by strong and individual handling of the orchestra influenced by her classical background as a viola player. This attachment to the viola has had a big influence on how she composes keeping her in touch with the linear, melodic and contrapuntal aspects of composing. It has also influenced her with how she treats colour in her scores, concentrating on darker resonant textures using carefully selected ensembles mixing low winds such as bass clarinets and bassoons with the more resonant string sounds such as violas and cellos. This can be heard to great effect in La Belle Epoque where this rich sound is combined with tango- influenced music. The careful attention to colour and atmosphere also stretches into her use of electronics blending them effortlessly with the live aspects of her scores.

Another key influence in her style comes from her love for songwriting for which she turns to the guitar or piano as backbones for composing. Her songs have been used to great effect in many films including: Spread your wings (2019), Women (for Imany, 2020), Mia & the white Lion (2018), La Vallée des loups (2018), No second chance (lyrics by Harlen Coben, 2015), Interdites d'école (2014), Jusqu'au dernier (2014), Maman a tord (2018) and Maybe a love story (2018).

Versnaeyen's film scores come on the back of vast industry experience scoring short films such as, Touiza (2018), A la Poussiere (2019), Replay (2020), and documentaries such as The Devil Dogs (2017) and Terres Extrêmes (2017), as well as providing additional music for renowned French composer Armand Amar's film scores such as: Marche avec les loups (2019), Maybe a Love Story (2018), No Second Chance (2015) , Mystère (2020), The Surrogate Mother (co-composition, 2015), Spread Your Wings (2019), Women (2020), Mia & The White Lion (2018), The History of Love (2016), Un sac de bille (2017), L'école buissonière (2017).

 Versnaeyen's abilities are marked by her versatility. An innate and overarching musicality enables her to retain her individuality of voice whilst taking into account the needs of each project and throw herself effortlessly from the large cinematic orchestral tracks in Requiem for a Killer to the nuanced world music influence in I Still Hide To Smoke to quirky tangos in La Belle Epoque and energetic big band scoring in OSS 117.

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