Hayat Selim is a Cairo-born, London-based singer-songwriter, composer, and multimedia artist whose crossover work bridges cinematic orchestration with global musical traditions and electronic music.

Raised in Egypt, she attended the German School in Cairo and began her musical training early, taking piano lessons from the age of nine and performing in choirs throughout her youth. She later earned a degree in Digital Media Engineering and Technology at the German University in Cairo, in parallel with private studies in vocal performance and composition.

Her early work in Egypt's independent game scene gained recognition quickly, and in 2016 she received the Young Talent Award in Game Music Composition at MediaSoundHamburg. She was notably one of the first Egyptian women to gain international visibility in the media audio field.

In 2017, Selim moved to London on a full scholarship to pursue a Master’s degree in Composition for Screen at the Royal College of Music. Her postgraduate studies, supported by institutions like the Noel Coward Foundation and the Henry Wood Trust, included training under Emmy-nominated composer Maurizio Malagnini (BBC’s Call The Midwife) and Enrica Sciandrone.

Hayat’s song Mirage was nominated for Best Song at the 2019 Jerry Goldsmith Awards, and her piece The Great Red Spot was featured on BBC Radio 3 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. Alongside her composing, she also built a reputation as a vocalist, lending her voice to major productions such as Age of Empires IV (2021), Harry Potter: Magic Awakened (2024), and Star Trek: Khan (2025). Hayat’s collaboration with Sonuscore and Steinberg to develop a virtual instrument library titled Ethnic Vocal Phrases, featuring her own voice, is now used by thousands of media composers around the world.

Hayat has worked on musical pieces for animations featured at the Grand Egyptian Museum and composed for a new television series set to release in 2025. In 2023, she was selected as the Arabic and Aramaic soloist in Karl Jenkins’ Stabat Mater. She continues to release her own original music, including her latest EP album Sweat On My Forehead and her upcoming EP Ode To The Levant.

Selim's artistic voice is characterized by an emotionally rich blend of orchestral composition and cultural storytelling. She weaves together influences from worldwide traditional music with an ethereal-tribal voice, cinematic soundscapes, and, most recently, electronic pop music. Her music evokes both personal and historical narratives, situating her as a unique and visionary artist in the world of contemporary crossover music.