Melissa Parmenter

Melissa Parmenter is an accomplished composer and pianist and a BAFTA nominated film producer. A music graduate from Durham University, she has written original scores to films such as Michael Winterbottom’s film Genova, starring Colin Firth and Catherine Keener, The Killer Inside Me, starring Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson, and Simon Aboud’s Comes A Bright Day, starring Craig Roberts, Imogen Poots and Timothy Spall, alongside fellow film composer Joel Cadbury. 

Parmenter has also composed and performed bespoke solo piano works for several feature films, including Topspot, directed by visual artist Tracey Emin, Michael Winterbottom’s A Mighty Heart starring Angelina Jolie, and 9 Songs with Kieran O’Brien and Margo Stilley. Most recently, her track “Platform" was featured in Friends: The Reunion.

In 2017 Parmenter released her debut EP Scandinavia, a suite of five original compositions with works scored for either solo piano or piano and cello, featuring cellist Harry Escott. Scandinavia showcased Parmenter’s life-long love of the piano and her complete mastery of the craft of composition. 

She followed the release in 2020 with Messapica, a collection of classical piano and elegant cello, continuing her collaboration with Escott. With the songs named after towns in the Puglia region of Southern Italy where Parmenter now spends as much time as she can, tracks like “Locorotondo” and “Martina Franca” are decadent bursts of escapism that place you in the towns’ atmospheric streets. 

The following year she released her Sola EP. A return to solo piano, it reflected on the feelings of playing alone. A personal exploration of solitude, of the pure sound of the piano, the songs encapsulated Parmenter’s love for her favourite instrument.

Alongside her music, Parmenter has produced many of British Director Michael Winterbottom’s films and TV series’ including The Face of An Angel starring Kate Beckinsale, Greed, starring Steve Coogan and Isla Fisher, all four series of The Trip, starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, and most recently the Fremantle/SKY Atlantic TV drama This England, starring Kenneth Branagh.

Parmenter has over 2m global streams, and has received support from the likes of Classic FM, Scala Radio, BBC London, Apple Music & Spotify, Soho Radio and The Line of Best Fit.