Joseph Trapanese
- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Composer, producer, and conductor Joseph Trapanese creates emotionally driven scores that merge modern electronics with organic instrumentation across film, television, and interactive media. Known for his inventive hybrid sound, his collaborations include Tron: Legacy with Daft Punk (Grammy nomination), Oblivion with M83 (World Soundtrack Award nomination, Discovery of the Year), and The Raid with Mike Shinoda. His solo film work spans projects such as Whalefall, No One Will Save You, Arctic, Straight Outta Compton (Black Reel Award), and two installments of the Divergent franchise (World Soundtrack Award nomination). Recent work includes the feature film David (the animated musical, for which he both composed the score and produced all original songs) as well as NBC’s Brilliant Minds.
Trapanese’s music extends across major franchises including The Witcher and Shadow and Bone, as well as interactive and experiential projects for Disney Animation, EA, Lucasfilm, and Ubisoft. Recent highlights include original music created for NASA and orchestral arrangements for the Super Bowl National Anthem. His choral work New Collective Consciousness, addressing climate change, opened Björk’s 2022 West Coast tour and was performed by Los Angeles-based ensemble Tonality. As a producer and arranger, Trapanese contributed to several hit songs from the multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning The Greatest Showman soundtrack. His collaborations span a wide range of artists, including Dr. Dre, Aloe Blacc, HAIM, Moby, Janelle Monáe, Kelly Clarkson, and M83. As a conductor, he has led ensembles such as the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, and AUKSO Poland.
Committed to education and mentorship, Trapanese has presented masterclasses at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music, USC’s Thornton School of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, NYU, and international music festivals around the world. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music and a master’s degree in Music for Visual Media from UCLA, where he studied with Giampaolo Bracali, Bruce Broughton, and Paul Chihara. He is a co-founder of The Echo Society, an organization dedicated to immersive, site-specific audiovisual performance in Los Angeles.
Trapanese’s music extends across major franchises including The Witcher and Shadow and Bone, as well as interactive and experiential projects for Disney Animation, EA, Lucasfilm, and Ubisoft. Recent highlights include original music created for NASA and orchestral arrangements for the Super Bowl National Anthem. His choral work New Collective Consciousness, addressing climate change, opened Björk’s 2022 West Coast tour and was performed by Los Angeles-based ensemble Tonality. As a producer and arranger, Trapanese contributed to several hit songs from the multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning The Greatest Showman soundtrack. His collaborations span a wide range of artists, including Dr. Dre, Aloe Blacc, HAIM, Moby, Janelle Monáe, Kelly Clarkson, and M83. As a conductor, he has led ensembles such as the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, and AUKSO Poland.
Committed to education and mentorship, Trapanese has presented masterclasses at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music, USC’s Thornton School of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, NYU, and international music festivals around the world. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music and a master’s degree in Music for Visual Media from UCLA, where he studied with Giampaolo Bracali, Bruce Broughton, and Paul Chihara. He is a co-founder of The Echo Society, an organization dedicated to immersive, site-specific audiovisual performance in Los Angeles.
