Joseph Trapanese

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

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.

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" and "stirring... ominous, hypnotic". The BBC described the work as "a sophisticated integration of acoustic and electronic instrumentation... majestic… rich, solemn tones… saturnine orchestration and a muscular rhythm”.

2011–present

Trapanese has composed for numerous projects, including Disney XD's animated series Tron: Uprising, 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), 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.

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, Lionsgate Films's The Divergent Series: Insurgent, Sony Pictures Classics' The Raid 2, and Universal Studios's Oblivion (co-composed with Anthony Gonzalez of M83).

In 2017, he scored the Sony Pictures film Only the Brave, marking his third collaboration with director Joseph Kosinski, and co-scored the 20th Century Fox musical drama The Greatest Showman alongside composer John Debney. For the latter, he produced several of the chart-topping songs from the film written by Academy Award-winning songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

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. 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.

Released on October 25, 2013, by RCA Records, Kelly Clarkson's Wrapped in Red features an orchestra arranged and conducted by Trapanese. 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.

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

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".

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

In 2023, Trapanese collaborated with American chiptune band Anamanaguchi on the anime series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off for Netflix.

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”.

Awards and honors In 2012, Trapanese was nominated for an IFMCA Award for 'Breakthrough Film Composer of the Year' by the International Film Music Critics Association In 2013, Joseph was nominated for Discovery of the Year for Oblivion at the World Soundtrack Academy Awards in Ghent, Belgium. In 2013, Trapanese was nominated for the ASCAP Composers’ Choice Award for the movie Oblivion. In 2015, Trapanese was nominated for Best Original Song Written for a Film from Insurgent for the song "Carry Me Home" at the World Soundtrack Academy Awards In 2015, Trapanese won the Black Reel Award for Outstanding Score for the film Straight Outta Compton. In 2018, Trapanese was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Music for The Greatest Showman (shared with John Debney)

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.

Filmography Film Year Title Director(s) Notes 2009 Countdown: Jerusalem Adam Silver 2010 Tron: Legacy Joseph Kosinski Composed by Daft PunkArranger and orchestratorFirst collaboration with Joseph Kosinski 2011 Mamitas Nicholas Ozeki The Raid Gareth Evans Composed with Mike Shinoda, Aria Prayogi and Fajar YuskemalFirst collaboration with Gareth Evans 2013 Oblivion Joseph Kosinski Composed with M83Second collaboration with Joseph Kosinski 2014 The Raid 2 Gareth Evans Composed with Aria Prayogi and Fajar YuskemalSecond collaboration with Gareth Evans Earth to Echo Dave Green Stand Cosmos Kiindarius Transformers: Age of ExtinctionMichael BayAdditional musicScore 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 DebneyOriginal 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 JoostAriel 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 Postcard from Earth Darren Aronofsky Composed with The Echo Society 2025 The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep Kang Hei Chul G20 Patricia Riggen David Phil CunninghamBrent Dawes First score for an animated filmOriginal songs by Jonas Myrin 2026 He Bled Neon Drew Kirsch Composed with Zhu Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice BenDavid Grabinski Whalefall Brian Duffield Third collaboration with Brian Duffield 2027 Animal Friends Peter Atencio

Television

Video games