
Adem Ilhan is an award-winning composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist who draws on his background in contemporary classical composition alongside his experience as a recording artist to bring a fresh creativity and a fearless exploratory approach to his music.
Adem’s idiosyncratic music can be heard on multiple film and television scores including The Ballad of Wallis Island starring Carey Mulligan, A24’s Dreaming Whilst Black, Thea Sharrock’s The Beautiful Game for Netflix, both seasons of Armando Iannucci’s Avenue5 for HBO, starring Hugh Laurie, Josh Gad and Rebecca Front, The Ones Below written and directed by David Farr (Hanna, The Night Manager), Michelle de Swarte’s BBC series Spent and the ITV comedy Piglets. Further credits include Steve Coogan and Sarah Solemani’s six-part Chivalry, Hard Cell for Netflix, Armando Iannucci’s In the Loop and both series of the BBC series Cheaters. Adem was music producer on Danny Boyle/Richard Curtis’ Yesterday, continuing his collaboration with the inimitable Daniel Pemberton (for whom he has worked with on many soundtracks). He also contributed a key track to the score of Shane Meadow’s Dead Man’s Shoes.
Having first started releasing records whilst at secondary school as a founding member of the influential post-rock band Fridge with Kieran Hebden (Four Tet), Adem went on to release highly acclaimed solo records and toured all over the world. He set up Homefires festival in London (Event of the Year – Time Out) which established him as a tastemaker in the burgeoning alt-folk/folktronica scene, and lead to him being invited by David Byrne to perform at Carnegie Hall.
Adem has produced many records, notably ‘Weatherhouse’ by Philip Selway (Radiohead), remixed artists from Underworld to Explosions in the Sky and collaborated with Sia, Hot Chip, Damo Suzuki (Can), Arthur Baker, Bernard Sumner & Johnny Marr, Pharoah Saunders, Vashti Bunyan and Badly Drawn Boy.
He has composed for major theatre and dance companies including The Royal Shakespeare Company and Rambert and has collaborated at an international level with world-class practitioners in these oeuvres. His music has been used in installations at top institutions including Tate Britain, Barbican and the Institute for Contemporary Arts. Adem’s composition work was nationally recognised when he won the prestigious Paul Hamlyn Award for Composers.
Credits
THE BALLAD OF WALLIS ISLAND | BBC Director: James Griffiths Producer: Steve Coogan Starring: Carey Mulligan, Sian Clifford, Tim Key | |
SPENT | BBC Director: Alex Winckler Producer: Rhonda Smith Created by: Michelle de Swarte Starring: Michelle de Swarte, Amanda Wilkin, Karl Collins | |
PIGLETS | ITV/ Monicker Pictures Directors: Sam Leifer, Victoria Pile Producer: Victoria Pile Starring: Sarah Parish, Mark Heap, Rebecca Humphries | |
DOWNFALL OF THE CRYPTO KING | Bitachon365/ Fifth Season Director: Storm Theunissen Producer: Storm Theunissen | |
DREAMING WHILST BLACK | A24/ BBC/ Big Deal Films Directors: Koby Adom, Joelle Mae David, Jermain Julien, Sebastian Thiel Producer: Gina Lyons Starring: Adjani Salmon, Jessica Hynes, Akemnji Ndifornyen | |
THE BEAUTIFUL GAME | Blueprint Pictures / Netflix Director: Thea Sharrock Producers: Graham Broadbent, Peter Czernin, Ben Knight, Anita Overland Starring: Bill Nighy | |
AVENUE 5 Season 1 & 2 | HBO Director: Armando Iannucci Producer: Steve Clark-Hall Starring: Hugh Laurie, Josh Gad, Zach Woods, Rebecca Front, Suzy Nakamura | |
CHEATERS Season 1 & 2 | BBC/ Clerkenwell Films Director: Elliot Hegarty Producer: Alex Walsh-Taylor Starring: Joshua McGuire, Susan Wokoma, Callie Cooke, Jack Fox | |
HONEYCOMB | kidMONK Director: Samuel Roden Executive Producer: Elisha Yaffe Starring: Hayley Marie Norman, Baron Vaughn, Joe Mande, Bella Shepard | |
CHIVALRY | Channel 4/ Baby Cow Productions Director: Marta Cunningham Producer: Christine Langan Starring: Sarah Solemani, Steve Coogan, Wanda Sykes, Adjani Salmon | |
SILENCE 1b (Short) | Armoury London Director: Rollo Hollins Producers: Ray Okudzeto, Sofia Sallons Starring: Alice Macrae, Bárbara Maldonado | |
HILLSONG CHURCH: GOD GOES VIRAL | BBC Director: Nick Aldridge Producers: Nick Aldridge, James Morton-Haworth, Kate Vogel Starring: Brian Houston, Tristan Almario | |
THE TROUBLEMAKER | Sasha Snow Film Production Director: Sasha Snow Executive Producers: Davdi Allen, Thomas Ermacora Starring: Roger Hallam, Sylvia Dell | |
THE GHOST OF PETER SELLERS | Vegas Media Director: Peter Medak Producer: Paul Iacovou Starring: Peter Medak, Joe Dunner, Simon van der Borgh | |
THE ONES BELOW | Cuba Pictures Director: Davdi Farr Producer: Nikki Parrot Starring: Clémence Poésy, Stephen Campbell Moore, David Morrissey, Laura Birn | |
WE, THE MASSES (Short) | Still Films Director: Eoghan Kidney Producer: Nicky Gogan | |
SONS OF CUBA | Trinamite Productions Director: Andrew Lang Producers: Laura Giles, Francine Heywood, Andrew Lang Starring: Yosvani Bonachea, Cristian Martinez, Santos Urguelles | |
IN THE LOOP | BBC Director: Armando Iannucci Producers: Kevin Loader, Adam Tandy Starring: Peter Capaldi, Harry Hadden-Paton, Samantha Harrington, Gina McKee, Tom Hollander | |
FREE RAINER | Coop99 Filmproduktion Director: Hans Weingartner Producers: Barbara Albert, Martin Gaschlacht, Jessica Hausner, Antonin Svoboda, Hans Weingartner Starring: Moritz Bleibtreu, Elsa Sophia Gambard | |
TIME TRUMPET | BBC Director: Armando Iannucci Producers: Adam Tandy Starring: Armando Iannucci, Richard Ayoade, Adam Buxton, Jo Enright |
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Links

‘Cheaters’ Series 2 scored by Adem Ilhan premieres 19th November on BBC One and BBC iPlayer
The new series of ‘Cheaters’ featuring music by Adem Ilhan premieres on BBC One and BBC iPlayer Tuesday 19th November. ‘After the adrenaline of their

‘Piglets’ scored by Adem Ilhan airs 20th July on ITV
‘Piglets’ scored by Adem Ilhan begins airing Saturday 20th July on ITV and ITVX. The six-part comedy series about a group of police officer recruits,

‘Spent’ scored by Adem Ilhan begins airing Monday 8th July on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer
‘Spent’ scored by Adem Ilhan begins airing Monday 8th July on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. The six-part comedy series is written and created by

‘The Beautiful Game’ scored by Adem Ilhan premieres 29th March on Netflix
‘The Beautiful Game’ scored by Adem Ilhan premieres 29th March on Netflix. The film is directed by Thea Sharrock, produced by Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin,

‘Dreaming Whilst Black’ scored by Adem Ilhan airs 24th July
Adem Ilhan has composed the score for the A24 and Big Deal Films co-produced series ‘Dreaming Whilst Black’, which begins airing on BBC Three and