Adina Nelu
MEDIA COMPOSER
Photo by Liam Ratcliffe
Classically trained film and media composer, multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter based in Manchester (UK), Adina worked as a stage performer for an award-winning European artist, composed original music for short and feature films, documentaries, art installations, fashion and TV.
The subject of her academic research and her first EP is Poems: A Collaboration in Space and Time, a sonic exploration of 19th Century Romanian poetry from unexpected musical perspective. Adina has recently been commissioned by BBC New Creatives to create Dear Hometown, a sonic re-enactment of an Eastern European political prison opened under the communist regime, a project currently in development. Her latest EP The Heavy Now was commissioned by the GMCA to become part of Greater Manchester’s archive of creative responses to the pandemic and is now available to listen on all streaming platforms.
WHAT'S ON
Huey (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is now available on all streaming platforms and on Bandcamp. Click here to follow the release.
Adina was selected to join BFI NETWORK x BAFTA Crew 2021, a year-long development programme and community, delivered by BAFTA in partnership with BFI NETWORK.
Adina was awarded with the Help Musicians' Do It Differently Fund, a grant which will go towards a holistic approach to Covid-19 creative adaptation, as well as the creation of a new body of work aimed to challenge her inherited definition of what a composer is.
ORIGINAL MUSIC for DECÂT O REVISTĂ
Adina created original music for Vorbesc. Ca să nu știu doar eu, a feature length audio essay written and narrated by Ioana Burtea and produced by Decât o Revistă, Romania's leading narrative journalism publication. Ioana draws from her own experience with sexual abuse, tackling a subject still widely ignored throughout Eastern Europe. Click here for the published essay.
Listen on Spotify
ALINA CEUSAN for ARMANI BEAUTY
Adina's piece Drowsy Birds inspired influencer Alina Ceusan's campaign for Armani Beauty's My Way perfume launch in Romania. Watch the video below:
BRIGHTER SOUND FILM MUSIC RESIDENCY
In 2019, Adina was offered a place on a Film Music residency as part of Brighter Sound's Both Sides Now initiative for gender equality in the creative industries. During this time, she was mentored by award-winning film composer Laura Rossi and composer/singer-songwriter Christella Litras. During this time, Adina created the score and sound design for Unbroken in collaboration with three other female film composers: Ioana Selaru, Megan Tarpey and Lauren Hutchins. The film they scored, Unbroken, is now available to stream on Vimeo.
Click here to watch
THE HEAVY NOW
spotify / apple music / itunes
The Heavy Now is an ambient exploration of the pandemic and its effects on the human psyche, focusing on memory and nostalgia as an oasis for self-reflection. It was commissioned by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to become part of the city's cultural archive of creative responses to the pandemic. The Heavy Now is now available on all streaming platforms. Original artwork by Petra Martin.
Click here to listen
DEAR HOMETOWN
Adina has been commissioned by New Creatives, a talent development scheme co-funded by Arts Council England and BBC Arts, to create a sonic narrative focused on historical events that took place in her home country during the communist regime.
"Dear Hometown tells the obscure story of the Piteşti Phenomenon, one of the most inhumane political prisons of the communist regime, the artefacts of which quietly stand well within walking distance of my childhood home. By employing non-conventional means of sonic storytelling, this project aims to challenge the audience’s perception through an eerie blend of soundscapes, sound design, music and found sound. This project is a ghastly sonic re-enactment of the atrocities that Romania's youngest and brightest had to endure during the early days of the communist regime. It is about recent history, collective memory and personal rediscovery."
"Dear Hometown tells the obscure story of the Piteşti Phenomenon, one of the most inhumane political prisons of the communist regime, the artefacts of which quietly stand well within walking distance of my childhood home. By employing non-conventional means of sonic storytelling, this project aims to challenge the audience’s perception through an eerie blend of soundscapes, sound design, music and found sound. This project is a ghastly sonic re-enactment of the atrocities that Romania's youngest and brightest had to endure during the early days of the communist regime. It is about recent history, collective memory and personal rediscovery."
Dear Hometown is currently in development.
GMCA CREATIVE COMMISSION
Adina is one of the sixty artists commissioned by the GMCA to document the effects of the pandemic through their medium. Their collective works will create an archive of Greater Manchester's artistic response to the on-going global health crisis.
"As part of this creative commission, I will be creating an instrumental piece conveying the family-related worries, as well as the feelings of powerlessness associated with being under lockdown. The proposed sonic artefact aims to express the intricate web of emotions that all of us are currently experiencing as part of this new reality that we are being forced to adjust to.
I'm honoured to have my work featured as part of this archive in response to such a significant historical event."
HUEY FEATURE FILM
Adina's most recent project is due to premiere later this year. Directed by Brenden Singh, Huey is a psychological thriller and Adina's second feature length film. The Original Soundtrack will soon be released on all streaming platforms.
POEMS: A COLLABORATION IN SPACE AND TIME
spotify / apple music / itunes
Poems: A Collaboration in Space and Time is a sonic exploration of Mihai Eminescu's charming world of poetry as translated by Corneliu M. Popescu in his 1978 volume, Poems. Throughout this album, poems are used as the starting point to the compositional process, either as spoken word performance or in song form. From the haunting, ritual-like chants of Guardian Angel, to the glitchy textures of You Never Knew My Soul, this album explores 19th century poetry from unexpected musical perspectives. Original artwork by Petra Martin.
