Dr Richard Jacques

Classically trained at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Richard Jacques is an Ivor Novello award-winning, GRAMMY and BAFTA nominated composer for film, television and video games. He is renowned for his critically acclaimed orchestral scores for blockbuster franchises such as ‘Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy’, ‘James Bond 007: Blood Stone’, ‘Mass Effect’, ‘Overwatch 2’, ‘Little Big Planet 2’, ‘Starship Troopers’ and ‘Headhunter’. 

After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Degree in Music, Richard Jacques began his professional career as an in-house composer with SEGA in the 90s, scoring many hit games such as ‘Sonic R’, ‘Sonic 3D Blast’ and ‘Metropolis Street Racer’, as well as appearing as a featured artist on titles such as ‘Jet Set Radio’, ‘Outrun 2’ and ‘Jet Set Radio Future’. 

Jacques’ breakout orchestral score for ‘Headhunter’ was the first video game soundtrack in history to record with A-list musicians at the world-famous Abbey Road Studios. Elevating the action genre in bombastic style, Jacques’ BAFTA and Ivor Novello nominated 'Classic modern Bond score' for 007: Blood Stone took interactive action scoring to the next level as he delivered a high energy original soundtrack which immerses the audience in a thrilling, cinematic Bond experience. 

Most recently, Jacques returned to Abbey Road to record his latest opus – a heroic, original thematic score and epic intergalactic symphony for ‘Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy’, receiving the prestigious Ivor Novello award for Best Original Video Game Score as well as top music honours from IGN, Metro, PlayStation, Steam and Music of the Year from the Game Audio Network Guild Award, along with universal accolades from the world’s premiere media including CNN, Forbes, GameSpot, Rolling Stone, SPIN, USA Today and Wired. 

Jacques’ dramatic music can also be heard in numerous premier TV and movie theatre campaigns for some of the world’s largest media agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi and McCann Ericsson, and top name brands such as Audi, Bacardi, Mercedes-Benz and Stella Artois. His music for television includes top brand shows for the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4. 

In the music industry, he has provided orchestration and arrangements for Dame Shirley Bassey and Joss Stone, and his music has been performed at venues throughout the world including The Royal Festival Hall (London, UK), Gewandhaus (Leipzig, Germany), and the Hollywood Bowl (Los Angeles, US) amongst many others. 

Richard Jacques is a Fellow of Wells Cathedral School and is an Honorary Doctor of the University of Essex. In 2024 he was made an Honorary Doctor of Music of the University of West London and is also the recipient of the Game Audio Network Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award.