Joseph Trapanese

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Joseph Trapanese
Joseph Trapanese 2019 (cropped).jpg
Trapanese conducting his score for Disney's Lady and the Tramp at Sony's Barbra Streisand Scoring Stage
Background information
Born1984 (age 3839)
Origin New Jersey, United States
Genres Film score, jazz, electronic, ambient, chiptune
Occupation(s) Film composer, orchestrator, arranger, conductor
Years active2006–present
Website www.joecomposer.com

Joseph Trapanese (born 7 August 1984) is an American composer, arranger, and producer. He works in the production of music for films, television, records, theater, concerts, and interactive media.

Contents

Early life and education

Raised in Jersey City, New Jersey, Trapanese attended Dr. Ronald E. McNair Academic High School before moving on to the Manhattan School of Music. [1]

Film and television music

Early career

Trapanese began his composing career by collaborating with Daft Punk (Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo) on the soundtrack for the Walt Disney Pictures film Tron: Legacy . His arrangements for the soundtrack have been described as "resolutely grand" [2] and "stirring... ominous, hypnotic". [3] The BBC described the work as "a sophisticated integration of acoustic and electronic instrumentation... majestic… rich, solemn tones… saturnine orchestration and a muscular rhythm”. [4]

2011–present

Trapanese in 2013 Josephtrapanese.jpg
Trapanese in 2013

Trapanese has composed for numerous projects, including Disney XD's animated series Tron: Uprising , [5] Sony Pictures Classics' The Raid: Redemption (cocomposed with Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park), Sony Pictures Television's original web series The Bannen Way , the independent feature Mamitas (featured at the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival), [6] and numerous live-action and animated films from UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television. Trapanese contributed musical arrangements to Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief , What Happens in Vegas and Traitor . Alongside composer Daniel Licht, Trapanese produced and orchestrated the scores for seasons 3 and 4 of Showtime's original series Dexter , and provided orchestrations for seasons 5 and 6. The 2012 teaser trailer for Iron Man 3 features Trapanese's composition Something to Fight For. [7] [8]

His career eventually lead to working on major studio feature films working solo and alongside recording artists. Some of his well known credits include Universal Studios's Straight Outta Compton , [9] Lionsgate Films's The Divergent Series: Insurgent , [10] Sony Pictures Classics' The Raid 2 , [11] and Universal Studios's Oblivion (co-composed with Anthony Gonzalez of M83). [12]

In 2017 he scored the Sony Pictures feature Only the Brave , his third collaboration with director Joseph Kosinski, and co-scored the 20th Century Fox musical The Greatest Showman alongside composer John Debney. On that film he produced several of the chart-topping songs from the film written by Oscar-winning duo Justin Paul and Benj Pasek. [13]

Music collaboration with artists

Following his collaborations with Daft Punk on Tron: Legacy , Anthony Gonzalez (M83) on Oblivion , and Mike Shinoda (Linkin Park) on The Raid: Redemption , Trapanese continues to work with artists in film scoring, album production, and live events.

On August 7, 2015 Dr. Dre released his long-awaited third album Compton which featured string arrangements by Trapanese and Jennifer Hammond. They were conducted by Trapanese at the Straight Outta Compton scoring sessions at the Sony Pictures Studios scoring stage in Culver City.

On February 27, 2015 Kelly Clarkson released her seventh album Piece by Piece which featured an orchestra arranged and conducted by Trapanese recorded at EastWest Studios in Hollywood. He collaborated with producers Greg Kurstin, Jesse Shatkin, and Jason Halbert on the project.

On September 22, 2013, Trapanese performed with M83 at the Hollywood Bowl as conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. [14] For the concert, Trapanese arranged new orchestral material for songs from Before The Dawn Heals Us , Saturdays=Youth , Hurry Up, We're Dreaming , and Oblivion . He also arranged and conducted an orchestra for M83's show at Central Park Summerstage in New York City on August 8, 2012. [15]

Released on October 25, 2013, by RCA Records, Kelly Clarkson's Wrapped in Red features an orchestra arranged and conducted by Trapanese. [16] Produced by Greg Kurstin, it is Clarkson's first Christmas-themed release, featuring cover versions of various Christmas standards in addition to original material. As part of the album's promotion, on October 30, 2013, Trapanese led the orchestra for Kelly Clarkson's Cautionary Christmas Music Tale at The Venetian Las Vegas, which was broadcast on NBC on December 11, 2013.

Trapanese collaborated with Active Child on the arrangement of "Silhouette" (featuring Ellie Goulding) for his 2013 EP Rapor . In addition to the album, he provided new string and choir arrangements for his performances in Melbourne, London, New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. [17]

For 2012's The Bourne Legacy , Trapanese worked with Moby on a new orchestral version of his "Extreme Ways". [18]

On October 18, 2011, M83's double-disc album Hurry Up, We're Dreaming released with five tracks arranged by Trapanese. Trapanese's work can be heard on "Intro", "Wait", "Soon, My Friend", "My Tears Are Becoming a Sea", and "Outro". [19]

Trapanese co-wrote and co-produced the song "Do or Die" with 3OH!3 from their album Omens . [20]

Music for live theater

The music Trapanese has produced for theater is performed primarily in New York City, most notably in productions by The Actors Company Theatre. Recent productions that he has provided music for include T. S. Eliot's The Cocktail Party , Arthur Miller's Incident at Vichy , Václav Havel's The Memorandum , and Edward Bond's The Sea. His music for the production of Milan Stitt's The Runner Stumbles was described by the New York Times as "Precise and evocative... wistful, ringing melodies”. [21]

Awards and honors

Education

Trapanese completed his bachelor's degree in composition at the Manhattan School of Music, and later an M.A. in Music for Visual Media at UCLA, with support from the Henry Mancini fund. Joseph's tutors included Giampaolo Bracali, Bruce Broughton, Paul Chihara, Roger Bourland, Jack Smalley, and Martin Bresnick, and he also engaged in brief studies with Louis Andriessen, Aaron Jay Kernis, Julia Wolfe, Mark Snow, and Ira Newborn. From 2008 to 2011, Trapanese taught the Electronic Music and Composition curriculum at UCLA's Herb Alpert School of Music. [28]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleDirector(s)Notes
2009 Countdown: Jerusalem Adam Silver
2010 Tron: Legacy Joseph Kosinski Composed with Daft Punk
First collaboration with Joseph Kosinski
2011MamitasNicholas Ozeki
The Raid Gareth Evans Composed with Mike Shinoda
First collaboration with Gareth Evans
2013 Oblivion Joseph Kosinski Composed with M83
Second collaboration with Joseph Kosinski
2014 The Raid 2 Gareth Evans Composed with Aria Prayogi and Fajar Yuskemal
Second collaboration with Gareth Evans
Earth to Echo Dave Green
StandCosmos Kiindarius
Transformers: Age of Extinction Michael Bay Additional music
Score composed by Steve Jablonsky
2015 The Divergent Series: Insurgent Robert Schwentke First collaboration with Robert Schwentke
Straight Outta Compton F. Gary Gray
2016 The Divergent Series: Allegiant Robert Schwentke Second collaboration with Robert Schwentke
The Siege of Jadotville Richie Smyth
2017 Only the Brave Joseph Kosinski Third collaboration with Joseph Kosinski
Wolf Warrior 2 Wu Jing
Shimmer Lake Oren Uziel
The Greatest Showman Michael Gracey Composed with John Debney
Songs by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
2018 Arctic Joe Penna
Robin Hood Otto Bathurst
Sprinter Storm Saulter
2019 Stuber Michael Dowse First collaboration with Michael Dowse
Lady and the Tramp Charlie Bean
2020 Coffee & Kareem Michael Dowse Second collaboration with Michael Dowse
Project Power Henry Joost
Ariel Schulman
Spontaneous Brian Duffield First collaboration with Brian Duffield
2021 Finding 'Ohana Jude Weng
Prisoners of the Ghostland Sion Sono
Happily BenDavid Grabinski
8-Bit Christmas Michael Dowse Third collaboration with Michael Dowse
2022 Spiderhead Joseph Kosinski Performed by The London Contemporary Orchestra

Fourth collaboration with Joseph Kosinski

2023 The Machine Peter Atencio
No One Will Save You Brian Duffield Second collaboration with Brian Duffield

Television

YearTitleNotes
2009–10 The Bannen Way 16 episodes
2010–11 Suite 7 2 episodes
2012–13 Tron: Uprising 19 episodes
2016 Dead of Summer 10 episodes
2016–17 Quantico 20 episodes
Jean-Claude Van Johnson 6 episodes
2018 Unsolved 10 episodes
Berlin Station Episode: "Aut Concilio Aut Ense"
2019 Are You Afraid of the Dark?: Carnival of Doom Composed with Jason Lazarus
2021–23 Shadow and Bone
2021 The Witcher Season 2; 8 episodes [29]
2023–present Skull Island 8 episodes
Composed with Jason Lazarus
2023 Scott Pilgrim Takes Off Composed with Anamanaguchi

Video games

YearTitleDeveloperPublisher
2014 The Crew Ivory Tower Ubisoft
2017 Need for Speed Payback Ghost Games Electronic Arts
2020 Star Wars: Tales From the Galaxy's Edge ILMxLab Disney Electronic Content

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The Bourne Legacy: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 2012 film The Bourne Legacy, which is the fourth installment in the series of films adapted from the Jason Bourne novels by Robert Ludlum and Eric Van Lustbader. The musical score is composed by James Newton Howard, becoming the first film in the series not to be composed by John Powell, who provided music for previous Bourne installments, due to his interest in scoring animated films. The album was digitally released through Back Lot Music on August 7, 2012, and a physical release by Varèse Sarabande on August 21, 2012. The album featured a new version of Moby's "Extreme Ways" subtitled with "Bourne's Legacy" released as a single on July 31. The music received mixed critical response.

Earth to Echo (Music from the Motion Picture) is the soundtrack to the 2014 film Earth to Echo released on July 1, 2014 by Relativity Music Group. The album featured 10 tracks that are featured in the film, along with a suite from the score composed by Joseph Trapanese. His score would be eventually released in a separate album on the same day.

References

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