Todor Kobakov

Todor Kobakov (born September 19, 1978) is a Bulgarian-Canadian composer, producer, arranger and pianist based in Toronto, Ontario. He is best known for his film score for Brother, directed by Clement Virgo, his solo album, Pop Music, and his musical collaborations with artists including 070 Shake and Metric.

Early life Kobakov was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, where he was raised by his mother and grandmother. He comes from a family of classical musicians all of whom are bass players. Kobakov's grandmother played in the Bulgarian opera Kobakov moved to Canada at age sixteen and graduated from the University of Toronto Faculty of Music with a Performance Piano Degree at age twenty. the Silver Lion at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.

Artist collaborations In 2003, Kobakov wrote the string arrangements for indie pop band Stars critically acclaimed sophomore album Set Yourself On Fire. Kobakov gained considerable attention when Pitchfork Media gave the album an 8.4 rating stating that "it might be the best orchestral pop album of the past year". Kobakov went on to score string arrangements for other prominent Canadian indie artists including Metric, Emily Haines, k-os, Sarah Slean, Lindy, Small Sins, and Dan Mangan. Kobakov has toured as a keyboardist with Emily Haines and The Soft Skeleton, Luke Doucet and Small Sins. In 2007, Kobakov and Lindy Vopnfjörð formed the indie rock band Major Maker. Their song "Rollercoaster" was licensed to a television commercial, which propelled the song to a Top 40 radio hit in Canada and a Canadian distribution deal with EMI Music Canada. That same year Kobakov was named "Toronto's Best Keyboardist" by Now Magazine.

In July 2010, Metric enlisted Kobakov to compose a string version of their breakthrough album Fantasies to be performed at Vivid Live, a music festival held in Sydney, Australia curated by Lou Reed and Lori Anderson. Kobakov accompanied Haines to the festival where she performed the songs accompanied by a string quartet. Kobakov also played piano as Haines and Lou Reed performed Reed's song "Perfect Day". Metric also commissioned Kobakov to compose a string version of "Eclipse (All Yours)", the theme song from the movie The Twilight Saga: Eclipse which Metric co-wrote with Howard Shore. Kobakov's arrangements can also be heard on Metric's iTunes Live Session album released on January 4, 2011. Canadian hip-hop artist k-os commissioned Kobakov to compose string arrangements for his MTV Unplugged performance on March 31, 2011.

Film scores Kobakov has composed eight film scores to date. His third film score of 2011 was for Fury, a neo-noir thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson, directed by David Weaver and released in 2012. Kobakov's film scores often combine piano, modern orchestration and electronic sounds. Kobakov's first film score was for the 2007 hipster comedy Young People Fucking which received significant media attention at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival and further publicity when it was singled out by Stephen Harper while the Canadian Prime Minister was campaigning for his controversial Bill C-10 proposal. Kobakov has since gravitated to darker, grittier films such as Fury, Cold Blooded, Monster Brawl, Pinkville, Sympathy, and Hit List, 2011.

In addition to his commercial and film work, Kobakov has scored television documentaries including Mega Heist which aired on The Discovery Channel and High Impact which aired on History Channel. In 2021, he scored the documentary film Artificial Immortality, for which he won the Canadian Screen Music Award for best original score for a documentary feature film.

He won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Score at the 11th Canadian Screen Awards in 2023 for Brother.

Solo releases Kobakov's solo piano debut, Pop Music, was released in 2009 by 88 Calibre/Cuto. The Canadian release was distributed by EMI Music Canada while outside of Canada the album was released digitally via iTunes. The album features eleven songs, nine of which are instrumental and two which feature guest vocals by Emily Haines of Metric and Tunde Adebimpe of TV on the Radio. The songs on Pop Music were inspired by Kobakov's life experiences in both Bulgaria and Canada. The album received strong critical acclaim across Canada. Montreal's Hour Community proclaimed that "parts of Pop Music are so simultaneously vital and gentle we may need to invent a new word" while The Globe and Mail called Kobakov "a piano stylist in the gorgeous whimsical form of Erik Satie." The official music video for "Toronto Stories" was directed by Jaron Albertin.

Kobakov has also released two electronic albums under the moniker Cy Scobie. The releases are characterized by a mix of electronic beats and dark undertones. Kobakov has also produced dance remixes for Emily Haines (Mostly Waving Todor K remix) and Major Maker (Rollercoaster Sofia Scandalli remix).

Filmography Year Title Director Genre 2013 Solo Isaac Cravit Mystery thriller 2012 The Samaritan David Weaver Neo-noir thriller 2011 Cold Blooded Jason Lapeyre Crime thriller 2011 Monster Brawl Jesse Thomas Cook Action horror comedy 2010 Hit List Minh Collins Dark comedy 2008 Pinkville Steven Garbas Psychological drama 2007 Sympathy Andrew Moorman Suspense, grindhouse 2007 Young People Fucking Martin Gero Romantic comedy 2015 Hellions Bruce McDonald Horror thriller 2015 Closet Monster Stephen Dunn Horror drama 2021 Artificial Immortality Ann Shin Documentary 2022 Brother Clement Virgo 2024 Humane Caitlin Cronenberg Dystopian thriller 2024 The Invisibles Andrew Currie Science fiction 2024 40 Acres R. T. Thorne Post-apocalyptic thriller 2026 #WhileBlack Sidney Fussell, Jennifer Holness Documentary

Commercials (2008–present) Year Client Title Agency 2010 Amex Yes Ogilvy Canada 2010 Footlocker Again Sapient Nitro UK 2010 Canadian Cancer Society Fight DDB Canada 2010 Canadian Cancer Society Combat DDB Canada 2010 Toronto Rehab Rehabilitation Saves Lives Manifest Communications 2010 Winners Spring Time Ogilvy Canada 2009 Robinsons Imagine BBH London 2009 AIDS/HIV Awareness Shine Manifest Communications 2009 Chocolate Milk Recharge Grip Toronto 2009 Acura Master The Road Grip Toronto 2009 Acura Driving Conditions Grip Toronto 2008 Vodafone Cartwheel BBH London 2008 Macy's Anthem JWT NY

String arrangements

Year Band/Artist Song Release Details 2013 Sara Bareilles I Wanna Be Like Me The Blessed Unrest 2011 k-os Astronaut MTV Unplugged 2011 k-os Born to Run MTV Unplugged 2011 k-os Burning Bridges MTV Unplugged 2011 k-os Man I Used To Be MTV Unplugged 2011 k-os Uptown Girl MTV Unplugged 2011 k-os Zambony MTV Unplugged 2010 Metric Eclipse (All Yours) Vivid Live (performance) 2010 Metric Help I'm Alive iTunes Session 2010 Metric Gimme Sympathy iTunes Session 2010 Metric Blindness Vivid Live (performance) 2010 Metric Gold, Guns, Girls Vivid Live (performance) 2010 Metric Satellite Mind Vivid Live (performance) 2009 Dan Mangan Nice, Nice, Very Nice Set The Sails LP 2007 Emily Haines Doctor Blind Knives Don't Have Your Back LP 2007 Emily Haines Reading In Bed Knives Don't Have Your Back LP 2007 Emily Haines Mostly Waving Knives Don't Have Your Back LP 2006 Small Sins Stay Smallsinsmusic.com 2006 Lindy Beautifully Undone Lindymusic.com 2004 Sarah Slean Weight Orphan Music LP 2003 Stars One More Night Set Yourself On Fire LP 2003 Stars Set Yourself On Fire Set Yourself On Fire LP 2003 Stars Your Ex-Lover Is Dead Set Yourself On Fire LP