Laura Karpman

Last updated
Laura Karpman
Birth nameLaura Anne Karpman
Born (1959-03-01) March 1, 1959 (age 65)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation Film composer
Years active1994–present
SpouseNora Kroll-Rosenbaum
Website laurakarpman.com

Laura Anne Karpman (born March 1, 1959) is an American composer, whose work has included music for film, television, video games, theater, and the concert hall. She has won five Emmy Awards for her work. Karpman was trained at the Juilliard School, where she played jazz by day and honed her skills scatting in bars at night.

Contents

Early life and education

Karpman was born in Los Angeles and grew up singing opera and jazz. [1] Her mother, a painter and sculptor, wanted her to grow up to be a composer and surrounded Karpman with music even before she was born. [2] Karpman began her first compositions at the age of 7. [3]

She worked with John Harbison at the Tanglewood Music Center, and attended Aspen Music School and the Ecole des Arts Americaines. At the University of Michigan, she graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Music degree studying with William Bolcom and Leslie Bassett. She received both her Doctorate and Master's Degree in Music Composition at the Juilliard School, where her principal teacher was Milton Babbitt. [4] At Juilliard, Karpman also received mentorship from Nadia Boulanger. [5]

Career

Compositions by Karpman have been commissioned by Tonya Pinkins, Los Angeles Opera, American Composers Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, the Juilliard Choral Union, Pacific Serenades, [6] and percussionist Evelyn Glennie. They have been performed internationally. [7] Karpman's theater catalog includes three musicals for Los Angeles's "A Noise Within" theater company, as well as underscores for dozens of classic plays. [8] Among her media music credits are Steven Spielberg's Emmy-winning, 20-hour TV miniseries, Taken ; and PBS's series The Living Edens (for which she received nine Emmy nominations). She has scored numerous films, television programs and video games (including music for supplemental Halo 3 materials and her award-winning score for EverQuest II ). [9]

She has held a residency at Sony Online Entertainment. [9] Karpman received an Annie Award nomination for A Monkey's Tale , a short film commissioned by the Chinese government, which later premiered in the US and was performed by the Detroit Symphony.

Karpman's Grammy-winning Ask Your Mama [10] premiered at Carnegie Hall on March 16, 2009, with performances by Jessye Norman, Cassandra Wilson, The Roots, and the Orchestra of St. Luke's conducted by George Manahan. With Langston Hughes's epic poem for a libretto, Karpman also took passages from Louis Armstrong, Big Maybelle, Pigmeat Markham and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, integrated with projected images by Rico Gatson and additional archival video, as well as Hughes's own poetry. Ask Your Mama was released by Avie Records in July 2016. Later, Karpman created "The 110 Project", an opera work commissioned by the L.A. Opera as a homage to the city's first freeway, I-110, as seen through four characters from 1940-2010, the lifespan of the freeway. [9]

In 2014, Karpman co-founded the Alliance for Women Film Composers with Lolita Ritmanis and Miriam Cutler. [11] The organization provides visibility and advocacy for women composers. [12] In 2016, Karpman became the first woman elected to the music branch of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors. [13]

Karpman composed the score for the Marvel Studios animated anthology series What If...? in 2021, [14] the streaming series Ms. Marvel in 2022 [15] and the score for the superhero film The Marvels in 2023. [16] She composed the score for the 2023 film American Fiction , for which she received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score. [17] [18] [19]

Personal life

Karpman is married to composer Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum, a fellow Milton Babbitt student. [20] They have one son and live in Playa del Rey, California, in a duplex with an ocean view and a built-in studio. [3] [21]

She has a self-described lifelong obsession for drama, including soap opera, classical operas, and plays. [3]

Filmography

Films

YearTitleDirectorStudio(s)
2009 The Tournament Scott Mann Entertainment Film Distributors
2010Nothing Special Angela Garcia Combs
2011 Something Ventured Dayna Goldfine
Daniel Geller
2013 Black Nativity Kasi Lemmons
The Galapagos Affair Dayna Goldfine
Daniel Geller
2014States of GraceHelen Cohen
Mark Lipman
Regarding Susan Sontag Nancy Kates
2015 The State of Marriage Jeff Kaufman
Code: Debugging the Gender Gap Robin Hauser
2016 Paris Can Wait Eleanor Coppola Lifetime Films
American Zoetrope
The Cinema Travellers Shirley Abraham
Amit Madheshiya
2017 Step Amanda Lipitz Artemis Rising Foundation
2018Phil's Camino: So Far, So GoodAnnie O'Neil
Set It Up Claire Scanlon Treehouse Pictures
Inventing TomorrowLaura NixFishbowl Films
HHMI Tangled Bank Studios
2019Sid & JudyStephen Kijak Passion Pictures
2020Paper ChildrenAlexandra CodinaCineMia
Love Is Love Is Love Eleanor Coppola American Zoetrope
Senior Moment Giorgio SerafiniGoff Productions
Pray Away Kristine StolakisArtemis Rising Foundation
Blumhouse Productions
Chicken & Egg Pictures
2021 Resort to Love Steven Tsuchida AK Worldwide
The Malina Yarn Company
Story Ink
2022Epic BillQuinnolyn Benson-YatesRed Wrap Productions
2023 The Marvels Nia DaCosta Marvel Studios
American Fiction Cord Jefferson Orion Pictures
MRC Film
T-Street Productions
3 Arts Entertainment
The Only Girl in the Orchestra Molly O'BrienLFR INDUSTRIES
2025 Captain America: Brave New World Julius Onah Marvel Studios

Television

YearTitleProduced ByNotes
1997–2003 The Living Edens CBS Productions / BBC 24 Episodes
2002 Taken DreamWorks Television 10 Episodes
2002–2003 Odyssey 5 Columbia TriStar Domestic Television 19 Episodes
2007–2022 Craft in America 18 Episodes
2016–2017 Underground Sony Pictures Television 20 Episodes
2019 L.A.'s Finest Sony Pictures Television
Jerry Bruckheimer Television
13 Episodes
2019 Why We Hate Amblin Television 6 Episodes
Won - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special
2020 Lovecraft Country Warner Bros. Television Studios
Monkeypaw Productions
Bad Robot
10 Episodes
2021–2024 What If...? Marvel Studios Animation 26 Episodes
2022 From Scratch Netflix 8 Episodes
2022 61st Street AMC

BBC Studios

16 Episodes
2022 Ms. Marvel Marvel Studios 6 Episodes

Video games

YearTitle
2004 EverQuest II
2005 EverQuest II: The Splitpaw Saga
2006 EverQuest II: Kingdom of Sky
Field Commander
EverQuest II: The Fallen Dynasty
Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom
EverQuest: Prophecy of Ro
2007 EverQuest: The Buried Sea
2011 Kung Fu Panda 2
2012 Guardians of Middle-earth
2014 Project Spark

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

American Academy of Arts and Letters

Annie Awards

BMI Film & TV Awards

Game Audio Network Guild Awards

Hollywood Music in Media Awards

News & Documentary Emmy Awards

Primetime Emmy Awards

Satellite Awards

Society of Composers & Lyricists Awards

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References

  1. "Laura Karpman". Pop Disciple | Film Music & Music Supervision Interviews | Music in Media News. 8 June 2018.
  2. Bamigboye, Baz (18 December 2023). "Breaking Baz: Composer Laura Karpman Discusses Infusing American Fiction with Hot Jazz & Rekindling a Classic Movie by Pioneering Filmmaker Dorothy Arzner". Deadline. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 "15 questions | Interview | Laura Karpman | Let's Hear it for the Girls". 15questions.net.
  4. Karpman, Laura (31 January 2011). "Documentary: Avant-Garde Composer Milton Babbitt". www.wbur.org. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  5. Womack, Catherine (2019-08-21). "History forgot these female composers. An L.A. music writer is helping us remember". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  6. "Premieres – Pacific Serenades".
  7. "Composer". Laura Karpman. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  8. "Laura Karpman". dworkincompany.com. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
  9. 1 2 3 Greening, Chris (1 June 2011). "Laura Karpman Interview: Returning to Game Music". VGMO -Video Game Music Online-. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  10. "MAMA". AskYourMama.com.
  11. Burlingame, Jon (2019-03-03). "Starr Parodi Named President of the Alliance for Women Film Composers". Variety. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  12. Greiving, Tim (2019-01-10). "Female Composers Are Trying to Break Film's Sound Barrier". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  13. "Academy Elects Steven Spielberg, Laura Dern to Board of Governors". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
  14. Garrett, Diane (2020-10-28). "Variety's L.A. Women's Impact Report 2020". Variety . Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  15. Tangcay, Jazz (2022-05-16). "'The Marvels' Composer Laura Karpman Scores 'Ms. Marvel' on Disney+ (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety . Retrieved 2022-05-16.
  16. Tangcay, Jazz (2022-01-13). "'The Marvels' Lands Laura Karpman From 'What If…?' as Composer (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety . Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  17. Rice, Lynette (November 10, 2023). "'American Fiction' Composer Laura Karpman Jazzed Up Score For TIFF's People's Choice Award Winner – Sound & Screen Film".
  18. Raup, Jordan (October 16, 2023). "American Fiction Trailer: Jeffrey Wright Finds Undesired Success in TIFF Audience Award Winner".
  19. 1 2 "96TH OSCARS® NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED". press.oscars.org. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  20. Kroll-Rosenbaum, Nora (15 June 2010). "VNPAC: A Seat At The Table - New Music USA". newmusicusa.org. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  21. Womack, Carolyn (2019-08-21). "History forgot these female composers. An L.A. music writer is helping us remember". The Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  22. 1 2 "2023 HMMA Nominations".
  23. 1 2 Grein, Paul (November 16, 2023). "Billie Eilish's 'Barbie' Song, Robbie Robertson's Scorsese Score Honored at 2023 Hollywood Music in Media Awards". Billboard .
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  25. Neglia, Matt (March 4, 2024). "The 2023 Satellite Award (IPA) Winners". Next Best Picture.
  26. "AwardsWatch - Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL) Nominations: Jon Batiste, Nicholas Britell, Barbie Top List". December 21, 2023.
  27. "5th Society of Composers and Lyricists (SCL) Awards: Oppenheimer, Billie Eilish, Nicholas Britell Score Wins". February 14, 2024.

Further reading

By Laura Karpman:

Articles and interviews