Biography

Vivek Maddala is a four-time Emmy-winning composer who focuses on scoring feature films, theater and dance productions, and television series. Additionally, Vivek works with several acclaimed artists as a music producer and engineer. As a multi-instrumental performer, Vivek journeys fluidly through diverse musical styles, and effortlessly between many instruments -- including drums, piano, guitar, and bass. He has also served as a guest conductor with renowned orchestras and chamber groups, performing work he has written for ballet and film.

Vivek is a Sundance Institute Lab Fellow for film composition, and has had work premiere at the Cannes, Toronto, Berlin, Venice, and Sundance film festivals. His diverse musical palette, combining melodic symphony writing with modern textures from around the globe, has been described paradoxically as "the bleeding edge of hip" (Roger Ebert) and "timeless and universal" (NPR).

When scoring films, Vivek speaks with his unique musical voice. His score for the Peabody Award-Winning film "American Revolutionary" blends melodic chamber strings with expressive piano passages to frame the film's exploration of critical social movements seen through the lens of a revolutionary activist and philosopher. Vivek's brooding, passionate score for "Children Of Memory" carefully fuses indigenous musical textures with his focused, yet sweeping composition style to explore questions of how post-war societies can right the wrongs of the past. Accordingly, Vivek continues to seek out projects that lift the human spirit -- to challenge power structures and elucidate the human condition. His works, extraordinarily diverse in style, stand out among contemporary compositions for their depth of expression, brilliance of sound, and profoundly compassionate nature. His music supplements and strengthens the narrative and emotional components of the film, characterizing and framing the picture -- above all, serving the dramatic vision of the director.

Recently, Vivek composed the four-hour music score for the Peabody Award-winning "Asian Americans," a sweeping historical series chronicling over two centuries of immigration/diasporic themes. The music boldly reflects and affects the series' exploration of new perspectives that recalibrate the way we look at immigrant experiences.

In addition to music, Vivek earned degrees in electrical engineering and applied physics, and has worked as an engineer or research scientist for Tektronix, Dolby Laboratories, and Avid, where he developed audio technologies and designed ground-breaking pro audio gear. He holds a half dozen patents in the fields of electromagnetics and high-frequency analog processing.
- IMDb mini biography by: White Bear PR

At age 26, won the Grand Prize in the 2000 Young Film Composers Competition; he has judged the competition every year since then.

Studied jazz performance at the Berklee College of Music; earned degrees in electrical engineering and economics at Georgia Tech and applied physics and engineering at the Univ. of Washington.

Named a Sundance Fellow in 2008 for film music composition, by the Sundance Institute.