Jon Opstad

{{Short description|British Composer}}

Jon Opstad (born 1983) is a British composer. His work spans music for film and television, contemporary dance, concert music and album projects. He has collaborated with other artists, such as Max Richter.{{Cite web |title=FX's 'The Veil' to Feature Music by Max Richter & Jon Opstad {{!}} Film Music Reporter |url=https://filmmusicreporter.com/2024/04/23/fxs-the-veil-to-feature-music-by-max-richter-jon-opstad/ |access-date=July 31, 2024 |language=en-US}} Opstad is classically trained, having studied music at Cambridge University, before graduating with an MA in film composition from the National Film and Television School.{{Cite web |title=Composer Profile - Jon Opstad |url=https://www.firstartistsmanagement.com/jonopstad.html |access-date=July 31, 2024 |website=First Artists Management |language=en}}

In television, Opstad is best known for his scores for dark dramas such as Netflix's Bodies and Black Mirror. His score with Max Richter for Elisabeth Moss thriller The Veil was acclaimed by IndieWire as one of "The Best TV Scores of 2024".{{Cite web |last=Shachat |first=Sarah |date=May 31, 2024 |title=The Best TV Scores of 2024 (So Far) |url=https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/best-tv-scores-theme-music/ |access-date=July 31, 2024 |website=IndieWire |language=en-US}}

Opstad's 2014 contemporary dance score Ignis was nominated for a British Composer Award (since rebranded as Ivors Classical Awards) for "Best Stage Work".{{Cite web |title=Shortlist Unveiled for the 12th British Composer Awards – Seen and Heard International |url=https://seenandheard-international.com/2014/10/shortlist-unveiled-for-the-12th-british-composer-awards/ |access-date=July 21, 2024 |website=seenandheard-international.com}}{{Cite web |last=Hugill |first=Robert |title=Shortlist announced for British Composer Awards |url=https://www.planethugill.com/2014/10/shortlist-announced-for-british.html |access-date=July 31, 2024}} Tracks from Ignis have been used extensively in other productions, with the composition "Ignis IV" featuring in the trailer for Hollywood feature film Ad Astra,{{Cite web |title=Sync Story: Ad Astra/Jon Opstad {{!}} Media {{!}} Music Week |url=https://www.musicweek.com/media/read/sync-story-ad-astra-jon-opstad/077023 |access-date=July 31, 2024 |website=www.musicweek.com}}{{Cite web |title=Manners McDade Composer Jon Opstad's Music Featured in Ad Astra Trailer {{!}} LBBOnline |url=https://lbbonline.com/news/manners-mcdade-composer-jon-opstads-music-featured-in-ad-astra-trailer |access-date=July 31, 2024 |website=lbbonline.com |language=en}} a trailer for Amazon Prime series The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, and the drama series The Veil.{{Cite web |date=May 16, 2024 |title=The Veil Soundtrack (2024). Music List From the Serie |url=https://soundtrackost.com/the-veil-soundtrack-2024/ |access-date=July 31, 2024 |language=en-US}} The track "Ignis I" was featured in the opening episode of Paramount drama series The Man Who Fell To Earth.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13990300/soundtrack/ |title="The Man Who Fell to Earth" Hallo, Spaceboy (TV Episode 2022) - Soundtracks - IMDb |language=en-US |access-date=July 31, 2024 |via=www.imdb.com}}

In 2021, Opstad was featured as an answer to a question on the long-running British TV game show Mastermind, as part of a specialist round on Black Mirror. Opstad has been quoted on his approach to scoring the Black Mirror episodes White Bear and White Christmas in the official book on the series written by Charlie Brooker, Annabel Jones and Jason Arnopp, "Inside Black Mirror"{{Cite book |last1=Brooker |first1=Charlie |title=Inside black mirror |last2=Jones |first2=Annabel |last3=Arnopp |first3=Jason |date=2018 |publisher=Ebury Press |isbn=978-1-5291-0258-1 |location=London}}

In 2015 the WNYC radio show New Sounds, presented by John Schaefer, focussed an episode on Opstad's music. Opstad's music has also featured on BBC Radio 3 programmes Late Junction, In Tune and Unclassified{{Cite web |title=Composer Profile - Jon Opstad |url=https://www.firstartistsmanagement.com/jonopstad.html |access-date=July 31, 2024 |website=First Artists Management |language=en}} amongst others.