Rachel Portman

The first female composer to ever win an Oscar, native Brit Rachel Portman studied Music at Oxford University, having begun composing at the age of thirteen. Her credits include the scores for 'Emma', 'Chocolat', 'Oliver Twist', 'The Cider House Rules' and most recently 'The Duchess'. She writes lush, sweeping scores which favour the use of the traditional orchestra and are often piano-led, this being the instrument on which she prefers to compose.