Jesse Koolhaas (1979) is an Amsterdam based composer with broad experience in the field of music for film. In April of 2023 he won the Buma Music in Media Award for Best Original Score in Documentary for his work on We Don’t Talk (HALAL/KRO/NCRV). The latest movie he worked on, House of Hope, won the prestigious Best International Feature at Hot Docs this year. Other scores for documentaries like Sanatorium (VPRO, 2018) also received nominations for Buma Awards, as well as a Music + Sound Award.
In 2005 Jesse Koolhaas finished his study Sonology at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. To further his composition skills in combination with his love for visuals, he enrolled in the Utrecht School of the Arts to focus on music for image and earned a Master of Music degree in 2007. From that point on he has been full time composing for various media and movies he has worked on have screened at many festivals. Apart from composing for media Jesse also releases music under his own name, with music ranging from jazz to electronic synthesizer music.