What it feels like to be a Bafta nominee

The composer of Netflix series Heartstopper has shared her delight at being nominated for a Bafta.

The Bedford-born musician, Adiescar Chase, has been nominated in the television award shows category for Original Music: Fiction in 2024.

She was shortlisted alongside Silo composer Atli Örvarsson, Nolly's Blair Mowat and fellow National Film and Television School graduate Natalie Holt who provided the music for Marvel series Loki.

The 30-year-old said: "There is a bit of 'am I really up there with these massive composers' but I'm putting that to the side and I'm just happy."

She added: "I always think to myself 'am I that good, is my music that interesting?', so it's nice to get that feeling of acceptance."

The musician was attending a conference in California in March when she woke up to "a hundred plus messages" congratulating her on the nomination.

Despite feeling honoured, Ms Chase has tried to avoid thinking too much about the ceremony before it takes place.

"To be quite frank I'm not thinking whether I win or not, but my dad told me to think about what to say and told me what not to say."

She laughed: "I said 'maybe I should make a joke' and he said 'maybe don't'.

"On the day I'm gonna have fun and enjoy myself and just be happy to be there."

'It's scary, but it's really fun'

It is easy for the multi-instrumentalist to distract herself from the upcoming awards. She has recently been in Paris rehearsing with the French electronic music pioneer, Jean-Michel Jarre, for a show taking place in Slovakia in May.

She will perform with him at the bi-annual Starmus Festival, where she will also share a stage with Queen guitarist Brian May.

The composer said: "This is just ridiculous and I'm very pleased and honoured to be involved.

"We're seeing things that work and what doesn't work... I'll be just jamming with some strange bongo percussion thing and it's just really fun.

"Some of it's scary, but it's really fun."

Jean-Michel Jarre
Jean-Michel Jarre is headlining the Starmus Festival in Slovakia [Getty Images]

Ms Chase added she was proud of her Bedford roots and believed it an important part of her development as an artist.

She said: "Every child growing up has to be given certain opportunities and having such a great music scene in Bedford was important."

The 30-year-old praised venues such as Bedford Esquires, local bands she supported such as Don Broco and her singing teacher Kerry Jo Hodgkin.

"We were messaging loads after I got my nomination, I call her my musical mother... not to take away anything from my actual mother who is very supportive.

"I'm more just happy to be nominated, I'm really pleased about it, I'm going to focus on just having a great time."

The Bafta Television Awards will take place on 12 May.

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