Joseph Trapanese

Composer Joseph Trapanese integrates modern electronics and organic audio into cinematic settings. He has crafted uniquely hybrid and inventive scores for Tron: Legacy with Daft Punk, Oblivion with M83, and The Raid with Mike Shinoda. His solo soundtracks include No One Will Save You, Arctic, two installments of the Divergent series, and Straight Outta Compton (Black Reel Award, 2015).

Trapanese’s work spans multiple series including The Witcher and Shadow and Bone, while his work in interactive media includes projects for Disney Animation, EA, Lucasfilm, and Ubisoft. Recent commissions include original music for NASA and arrangements for the Super Bowl National Anthem. His choral piece New Collective Consciousness, addressing climate change, opened Björk’s 2022 west coast concert tour as sung by Los Angeles-based choral group Tonality.

As a music producer and arranger, Trapanese worked on several hit songs for the multi-platinum soundtrack The Greatest Showman (Grammy Award, 2018) and has collaborated with notable artists from a wide variety of genres including Dr. Dre, Aloe Blacc, Haim, Janelle Monae, Kelly Clarkson, and M83 (Grammy nomination, 2013). His work with Sohn earned a World Soundtrack Award nomination in 2015. As a conductor, he has led the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, and AUKSO Poland.

Trapanese is passionate about education and mentorship; he shares his expertise through speaking and masterclasses around the world, including UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music, USC’s Thornton School of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, and numerous international music festivals and organizations. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Manhattan School of Music and an M.A. in Music for Visual Media from UCLA, where he studied under Giampaolo Bracali, Bruce Broughton, and Paul Chihara. The composer’s commitment to fostering creativity extends to his role as co-founder of The Echo Society, bringing together like-minded artists to inspire the Los Angeles community with enriching site-specific live and interactive audiovisual performances.