Our Children’s Composer-in-Residence, Paul Rissmann, is an award-winning musician whose series of hugely popular commissioned pieces is a core part of our programme.  

Paul Rissmann was born on the Isle of Bute, Scotland. He currently holds the position of Animateur for the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) and is Children’s Composer in Residence for Music in the Round.  

Paul’s diverse portfolio of compositions range from electronic music for Microsoft to an orchestral fanfare for the opening of the Twin Sails bridge in Poole Harbour.  

Paul is frequently commissioned to set children’s books to music. In 2012 Paul won a British Composer’s Award for his composition The Chimpanzees of Happy Town. It was recently recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra, with Paul as narrator, and was released in 2016. His most recently commissioned work for Music in the Round was Izzy Gizmo, based on the best-selling children’s book by Pip Jones and Sara Ogilvie. The world premiere was given at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield in autumn 2021.