Jessica Curry

Jessica Curry was born in Liverpool, attended UCL where she studied English Literature and Languages, then studied Screen Music at the National Film and Television School. Together with her husband, Dan Pinchbeck, Jessica collaborated on a number of projects including opera, soundwalks and sound installations. In 2007, they established The Chinese Room, a hugely successful video game design studio where the main focus is on strong narrative storytelling. 

Their first game was Dear Esther for which Jessica composed the music and Dan wrote the story. Their second game, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs allowed Jessica to create a more interactive score and soundscape. Jessica’s approach to composing is for it to be an integrative process where the music is not simply added-on at the end of the game development process but is central. In 2016 she won a BAFTA for her score for the game Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture but shortly after Jessica stopped focussing on The Chinese Room. She cited several reasons, one of which was that she felt she could not continue the fight to “prove through talent and hard work and positivity that women have a vital role to play” in the games industry. She went on to work with Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy in 2016 and as a presenter on ClassicFM.

Jessica’s music has been widely performed in places from The Old Vic Tunnels and The Barbican to Sydney Opera House. Her score for Dear Esther won Best Audio at the TIGA’s as well as a GANG award and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture won soundtrack of the year from MOJO magazine, topping the Official Charts for several weeks.