Hans Zimmer Collaborates with Roma Musicians on New Film Score

When Academy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer set out to write the score for the new Sherlock Holmes film, he knew he wanted to collaborate with Roma musicians. "I went there to find musicians we can work with," Zimmer recently told the Huffington Post. "Not out of a sense of authenticity, partly because of inspiration, and partly because every time I heard a recording from these people, it just sounded different, it sounded like stuff I couldn't do in Hollywood or London."

With NDI’s assistance, Zimmer visited Roma towns and settlements, primarily in Eastern Slovakia. Roma, sometimes called Gypsies, are virtually unrepresented in government, and therefore enjoy very few of the benefits other Europeans take for granted. "If you're a Roma kid and you want to go to school, because your settlement is so far from your school, you have to take the bus, but because there is only unemployment, you can't afford to get the bus," Zimmer explained. "So it's this vicious circle where you can't afford to get an education because you can't afford the bus fare. The housing is beyond anything I've ever seen." Read more»

Related:

• Hans Zimmer talks 'Sherlock' sequel's human rights awareness connection»
• How "Sherlock Holmes" turned Hans Zimmer on to the Roma cause»
• Academy Award winner explores living conditions of Roma in visit to Slovakia»
• NDI commemorates International Day of Roma with film from Academy Award winner Hans Zimmer»

Published Dec. 15, 2011