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. 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.
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".
Opstad's 2014 contemporary dance score Ignis was nominated for a British Composer Award (since rebranded as Ivors Classical Awards) for "Best Stage Work". 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, a trailer for Amazon Prime series The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, and the drama series The Veil. The track "Ignis I" was featured in the opening episode of Paramount drama series The Man Who Fell To Earth.
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
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 amongst others.
Filmography
Television +YearTitleStudioNotes2013Silent Witness (series 16)BBCco-composed with Sheridan Tongue2013Black Mirror (episode White Bear)Channel 4/Netflix2014Black Mirror (episode White Christmas)Channel 4/Netflix2015CyberbullyChannel 42016The Murder DetectivesChannel 42016Louis Theroux: SavileBBC2017Safe House (season 2)ITV2018The Woman In WhiteBBC2019The FeedAmazon Prime Video2020We Hunt TogetherBBC2021Surviving 9/11BBC2022We Hunt Together (season 2)BBC2022Trainwreck: Woodstock '99Netflix2023BodiesNetflix2024The VeilFX/Hulu/Disney+co-composed with Max Richter
Film +YearTitleDirectorNotes2010Uncle DavidDavid Hoyleco-composed with Richard Thomas2012A World Not OursMahdi Fleifel2014TheebNaji Abu Nowar(additional music)2014X+YMorgan Matthews(additional music)2022MerkelEva Weber
Games +YearTitleStudioNotes2018-presentTom Clancy's Rainbow Six SiegeUbisoftcomposer from Year 3 onwards of the game
Discography
Albums +TitleAlbum detailsStill Picture Released: 2005 Label: New Canvas Records Formats: CD, digitalInterpretations Released: 2007 Label: New Canvas Records Formats: CD, digitalIgnis Released 2014 Label: New Canvas Records Format: digitalExtensions: Music for Computer-Controlled Prepared Piano Released 2022 Label: Tip Top Recordings Formats: CD, digital
Singles +TitleSingle DetailsBlue Sky, White Clouds Released 2020 Label: Deutsche Grammophon Formats: vinyl (as part of Project XII 2020 album), digital
Soundtrack Albums +TitleAlbum detailsBlack Mirror: White Bear (Original Television Soundtrack) Released: 2013 Label: self released Format: digitalBlack Mirror: White Christmas (Original Television Soundtrack) Released: 2014 Label: self released Format: digitalSafe House Series 2 (Original Television Soundtrack) Released: 2017 Label: Manners McDade Format: digitalThe Woman In White (Original Television Soundtrack) Released: 2021 Label: Manners McDade Format: digitalSurviving 9/11 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Released: 2021 Label: Manners McDade Format: digitalThe Feed (Original Television Soundtrack) Released: 2021 Label: Studio Lambert Format: digitalBodies (Soundtrack from the Netflix Series) Released: 2023 Label: Netflix Music Format: digitalThe Veil (Original Soundtrack) Released: 2024 Label: Hollywood Records Format: digital
References