About Ciaran Hope
Born 1974. Ciaran Hope is an Irish composer.
Ciaran Hope (born 4 August 1974) is an Irish composer of orchestral, choral, and film music. He is the composer of Hollywood film soundtracks such as Screw Cupid, Truth About Kerry as well as the contemplative soundtrack for The Letters, based on the life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. He has also worked extensively in contemporary music since graduating from Trinity College Dublin. He has written a violin concerto for Cora Venus Lunny, a clarinet quartet for the Czech Clarinet Quartet, and his vocal works have been performed internationally by choirs such as Pfizerphonics and Ireland's 2016 choir of the year, Voci Nuove.
Life and career Growing up in the Meath village of Dunboyne, Hope was involved with music from early childhood: his mother Kitty played the violin and viola as well as teaching in the DIT College of Music (Chatham Row) and his sister Grainne is a professional cellist. He studied music from a young age and developed a keen interest in clarinet and composition during his teenage years. He attended school at Castleknock College before completing B.A. and B.A.I. degrees in Mathematics and Engineering at Trinity College Dublin. Hope continued his composition studies under the supervision of Ladislav Kubik at the Czech American Summer Music Institute in the Prague Conservatory throughout his college years. He later received a master's degree in Engineering and Music from Trinity College Dublin in 1998. After winning the IMRO Prize for composition at the RTÉ Musician of the Future competition for his solo clarinet piece Diptych, he moved to Los Angeles to attend the UCLA Film Scoring Program on a Fulbright Scholarship. In 1999, he worked as part of the orchestrating team on the score of the Hollywood feature film The Insider, which was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
In 2012, his scores for Truth About Kerry (2010) and End of the Innocents (2011) were both nominated for a gold medal for Excellence in their respective categories at the Park City Film Music Festival. In 2012 he also provided string arrangements for Irish band Senakah's album Human Relations which was produced by Cranberries guitarist and songwriter Noel Hogan, and recorded in 27 days in the former Bishop's Palace in Limerick.
Having undertaken composer residencies at the Tyrone Guthrie artist's retreat in County Monaghan and the Cill Rialaig artist's retreat in County Kerry with the support of a 2011 Tyrone Guthrie Centre regional bursary award and a 2012 Cill Rialaig residency award, Hope spent four months as the 2013 Composer-in-residence at the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris, where he worked on several pieces including a suite of music for children's orchestras based on a cultural tour of Paris and an opera about revolutionary Robert Emmet's time in France. In 2013 he also began work on the orchestral score for the Hollywood film The Letters based on the life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Recorded with the Macedonian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Mother Teresa's home town of Skopje, Macedonia, and with New Dublin Voices choir in her spiritual birthplace of Dublin, Ireland, the score was completed in the summer of 2014 and the film went on release in the US on 4 December 2015. The score has also received many live performances, most notably in the Pantheon in Rome by PfizerPfonics.
According to SonyMusicMasterworks.com and FilmMusicReporter.com, Sony Classical released a soundtrack album for the film in 2016, featuring 23 tracks from Hope's score and the Leona Lewis song "Run". Following the album's release, Hope took a career break to complete an MBA at the prestigious UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School in 2017. In a 2021 Linkedin article about "Creativity and its role in strategic thinking", Hope announced that he had accepted a senior role as Director in Innovation and Experience Design with Ernst & Young.
Personal life He is married to Irish actress Rebecca O'Mara and is the brother-in-law of actor, Jason O'Mara.
Film credits Composer Discography Feature films Year Title Director Notes Distributed by The Face of Alexandre Dumas: The Man in the Iron Mask William Richert Composer: additional score The Groom VÃctor Cárdenas Short film When Angels Cry Narendra Reddy Short film Manfast Tara Judelle Composer: additional music Interrogation Christopher Alexander Short film GRACE Antonia Scarpa Hollywood Horror Bernt Amadeus Capra All In Reggie Jordan Little Star David Plane Short film The Healing Nancy Hendrickson Short film Martin Did It Brian McNett Short film LA Noir Conrad Jackson Short film Rend Brian Lazarte (as Brian David Lazarte) Short film Screw Cupid Sanjeev Sirpal Film1 Sundance Channel Truth about Kerry Katie Torpey Opus Distribution Milk Carton Sanjeev Sirpal Short film Lovepocalypse Sanjeev Sirpal Short film Fresh Suicide Anupam Barve Short film End of the Innocents Chesher Cat (as Deborah Chesher) Short film The Letters William Riead Freestyle Releasing, Cinema West Films Roll Camera Alannah Murray Short film Speedballs Cody Farren Short film Documentaries Year Title Director Notes Distributed by Mud Pies & Kites: Death & Resurrection in Haiti Gerard Thomas Straub Television Year Title Director Notes Distributed by Here! Family Episodes: 1.2 & 1.3 Joni and Friends Episodes: Ryan: A Legacy of Hope & Family Retreat
Sound department Feature films Year Title Director Role Distributed by Virginia's Run Peter Markle Sound editing Alliance Atlantis (Canada) & MGM Home Entertainment (United States) GRACE Antonia Scarpa Re-recording mixer All In Reggie Jordan Re-recording mixer Little Star David Plane Re-recording mixer & Sound editor The Healing Nancy Hendrickson Re-recording mixer & Sound editor LA Noir Conrad Jackson Re-recording mixer & Sound editor Screw Cupid Sanjeev Sirpal Re-recording mixer & Sound editor Film1 Sundance Channel Milk Carton Sanjeev Sirpal Re-recording mixer & Sound editor Lovepocalypse Sanjeev Sirpal Re-recording mixer & Sound editor iHeart Sanjeev Sirpal Re-recording mixer & Sound editor Documentaries Year Title Director Notes Distributed by Friends Forever Ben Wolfinsohn Sound editor Betty Blowtorch and Her Amazing True Life Adventures Antonia Scarpa Additional sound mixer Television Year Title Director Role Distributed by Here! Family Episodes: 1.2 & 1.3 Re-recording mixer
Music Department Discography Feature films Year Title Director Role Distributed by Turbulence II: Fear of Flying David Mackay Assistant music editor (uncredited) Trimark Pictures Held Up Steve Rash Assistant music editor Trimark Pictures The Insider Michael Mann Orchestrator (uncredited) Spyglass Entertainment Killer Bud Karl T. Hirsch Assistant music editor Trimark Pictures Wrong Hollywood Number José Antonio W. Danner Additional music scoring mixer Beat the Drum David Hickson Virgil Films & Entertainment Music editor The Devil and Daniel Webster Alec Baldwin Music editor (uncredited) All In Reggie Jordan Orchestrator Musician: piano GRACE Antonia Scarpa Orchestrator Musician: woodwinds, piano Black Oasis Andrew Lewis Music scoring mixer Vision Video Little Star David Plane Orchestrator Music scoring mixer Musician: woodwinds, piano The Healing Nancy Hendrickson Orchestrator Music scoring mixer Musician: woodwinds, piano Screw Cupid Sanjeev Sirpal Orchestrator Music scoring mixer Musician: woodwinds, piano Film1 Sundance Channel Truth about Kerry Katie Torpey Orchestrator Music supervisor Musician: woodwinds, piano Opus Distribution Milk Carton Sanjeev Sirpal Music supervisor iHeart Sanjeev Sirpal Music supervisor End of the Innocents Chesher Cat (as Deborah Chesher) Original score mixer Mud Pies & Kites: Death & Resurrection in Haiti Gerard Thomas Straub Music scoring mixer Musician: woodwinds, piano Pax et Bonum Communications What If Christopher Papakaliatis Pro Tools editing Village Films The Letters William Riead Music producer Freestyle Releasing, Cinema West Films Dinner for few Athanassios Vakalis Pro Tools music editor
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Frequently asked questions
Who is Ciaran Hope?
Irish composer
When was Ciaran Hope born?
Ciaran Hope was born on 4 August 1974 in Dublin.
What is Ciaran Hope's occupation?
Ciaran Hope is a composer.
What nationality is Ciaran Hope?
Ciaran Hope is Irish.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Ciaran Hope. https://biography.guide/ciaran-hope/
MLA: "Ciaran Hope." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/ciaran-hope/.
Chicago: "Ciaran Hope." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/ciaran-hope/.
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