Latest in Composers

Ten-time Oscar nominee Diane Warren didn’t win Sunday in the Original Song category at the Academy Awards for RBG‘s feminist anthem “I’ll Fight,” but powerhouse singer Jennifer Hudson knocked it out of the park singing it in the first performance among among the nominees. The song also served as a reminder of the…

On Sunday night, Ludwig Göransson won three Grammys. The trio of awards came in recognition of his Black Panther score, and his collaboration with Childish Gambino on “This Is America,” a song (and record) that set the world on fire. Along with Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Ariana Grande and others, Gambino (né Donald…

The series finale of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend will have a special concert event immediately following the last show: Yes, It's Really Us Singing: The 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' Concert Special! The music starts on Friday, April 5 at 9 PM ET/PT immediately following the 8 PM airing of the finale. Rachel Bloom and the cast of the…

Progressing to the upper echelon of film scoring with admirable speed, Justin Hurwitz had a predicament with First Man, setting out to craft music unlike any he'd composed before. Collaborating with director Damien Chazelle since his days at Harvard, Hurwitz had a whirlwind experience with his last project, the…

When two-time Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat goes about his work, he spends a lot of time imagining, striving for a score and a sonic world unlike any heard before. With Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs—set in a dystopian near-future Japan, and following a boy in search of his dog on an island of refuse—this…

One of the most influential musicians of the last 30 years, Thom Yorke has always had a crisis of confidence, when it comes to scoring films. Approached to score David Fincher's Fight Club back in 1999, the Radiohead frontman wouldn't come around to film for another 19 years, making his debut as a composer this year…

After working with Barry Jenkins on his Oscar-winning Moonlight, composer Nicholas Britell set out on If Beale Street Could Talk, chasing a sound that felt like love. Treating "every movie [as] its own universe," Britell never knows where he'll wind up with a score, but he had certain initial instincts when it came to…

EXCLUSIVE: Composer Joe Iconis, whose Off Broadway viral sensation Be More Chill is headed to Broadway in February, is developing a new stage musical called Punk Rock Girl featuring songs written or made famous by such female musicians or female-fronted bands as Avril Lavigne, Pink, Pat Benatar and Blondie. The…

On Ralph Breaks the Internet, Disney's follow-up to 2012's Wreck It Ralph, Alan Menken enjoyed the privilege of being sought after for the legacy he's built, and a singular musical quality only he could provide. As the eight-time Oscar winner notes, he has become a genre unto himself at this point. "It certainly beats…

EXCLUSIVE: Going into The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, the Coen brothers' latest, Oscar-nominated composer Carter Burwell knew their sensibilities and working methods well, as he notes in the video above. At this point, Burwell had worked with the legendary directors on 16 films, dating back to Blood Simple in 1984. What…

In Josie Rourke’s historical drama Mary Queen of Scots, composer Max Richter found a fresh, contemporary take on a familiar story. Centered on Queen Elizabeth I and her cousin Mary Stuart, who aggressively pursued her seat of power, the drama called for a score that was as unexpected and alive as its central…

Spike Lee's go-to composer since Mo' Better Blues hit theaters 28 years ago, Terence Blanchard knows the realities of longtime creative partnerships—the way in which the challenges that present themselves on projects change over time. It's been a long time since Blanchard has had to have so much as an extended…