Volker Bertelmann is an internationally acclaimed pianist, composer, and experimental musician. In 2023, he was honored with an Academy Award and a BAFTA in the Best Score category for his work on All Quiet on the Western Front (directed by Edward Berger). Bertelmann’s latest projects are A House of Dynamite (directed by Kathryn Bigelow), Ballad of a Small Player (directed by Edward Berger), The Last Disturbance of Madeline Hynde (dir. Kenneth Branagh), Panic Carefully (dir. Sam Esmail), and The Dead of Winter (dir. Brian Kirk). Most recently, he received his first Primetime Emmy nomination in the Original Main Title Theme Music category for his work on HBO’s Dune: Prophecy. He has received a multitude of award nominations, including Academy Awards, Golden Globes, Critics' Choice, and BAFTAs, for his work on Conclave, directed by Edward Berger, and for Lion, the Oscar-nominated film directed by Garth Davis, which he co-composed with Dustin O’Halloran.

Bertelmann has provided music for several leading films and television series. He composed scores for The Day of the Jackal, Dune: Prophecy, Patrick Melrose, The Old Guard, Stowaway, the episode Beyond The Sea from Black Mirror, Life After Life for BBC, The Crow, and the documentary Hollywoodgate. He also composed film scores for The Amateur, Adrift, the 2018 romantic drama directed by Baltasa Kormákur, and, again in collaboration with O’Halloran, for Ammonite, which was short-listed for the Academy Awards in 2020. In 2022, he scored War Sailor, which was an official selection at the Toronto International Film Festival. His film One Life premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

Bertelmann, who in his solo work goes by the name Hauschka, is a uniquely innovative pianist; he is renowned both for his trademark sound, which he achieves by preparing the piano with various small objects, and his ability to improvise entire performances. His output is prodigious: he tours extensively and has produced over twenty albums and EPs, both solo and in collaboration with others. He has worked, among many others, with the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, where he was the artist in residence, with Múm, the Icelandic experimental musical group, and with the Grammy-winning violinist Hilary Hahn.

Bertelmann is an active member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

SCL Screening + Q&A: A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE