Storytelling through music is one of the things that Portuguese-born, Amsterdam based composer and producer Rui Reis Maia excels at. Growing up in the South-East part of Amsterdam, he was surrounded by different types of musical influences. Outside of his parental house he was a big fan of hip-hop and hip-hop culture. At home his father introduced him to bands and artists such as Fleetwood Mac, Supertramp and Paul Simon. Influenced by the neighbourhood and fascinated by his father's record collection, his love for music began.

 

After producing under this global commercial label for almost 3 years, Rui's path lead him to the rediscovering of his own musical direction; he was invited for a writing camp by Tienus (GoldKimono). This writing camp was set in the hills of Orvieto, Italy in a house filled with creative talent. Rui spent a week producing, writing and composing with different types of artists and songwriters. Here he discovered that he wanted to focus more on his own creative development and storytelling through music.

 

Through a mutual friend he connected with Saman Amini, a Dutch actor, theater maker and musician. Rui and Saman bonded over their passion for storytelling and decided to take a leap together; Saman through directing and Rui through composing and producing music for his theater shows. The result was the successful 'Samenloop van Omstandigheden'. The show premiered with a 4-star score in Volkskrant, one of The Netherland's largest and most prestige newspapers, and was named second to best theater performance of 2017.

 

During the showing of 'Samenloop van Omstandigheden' Rui's music was picked up by Film director Norbert ter Hall, known for the awarded television show A'DAM - E.V.A. Together they started collaborating on Norbert ter Hall's newest project: the movie adaptation of Mano Bouzamour book 'De Belofte van Pisa'. With this collaboration Rui's dream of writing music for movies came true. 'De Belofte van Pisa' aired in movie theatres in October 2019.

 

In 2020 Rui was awarded the Dutch Golden Calf for Best Music at The Netherlands Film Festival for 'De Belofte van Pisa', his first film score.