Composer, producer, and conductor Joseph Trapanese is known for building distinct musical worlds through intentional design, bridging organic instrumentation and modern electronics across film, television, and interactive media. His work emphasizes score as a primary storytelling engine, ranging from dialogue-free features like Arctic and No One Will Save You to the sweeping acoustic and choral score for 20th Century and Imagine Entertainment’s Whalefall.

Trapanese first gained international recognition for his collaborative scores with prominent recording artists, including Tron: Legacy with Daft Punk (Grammy nomination), Oblivion with Anthony Gonzalez of M83 (World Soundtrack Award nomination), and The Raid with Mike Shinoda. His feature work also includes co-writing the score and producing songs for the multi-platinum musical The Greatest Showman (Grammy award), as well as Straight Outta Compton (Black Reel Award), two installments of the Divergent franchise, and the animated musical feature David.

Trapanese’s music spans major television series including Netflix’s The Witcher, Shadow and Bone, and NBC’s Brilliant Minds, as well as interactive and experiential projects for Disney Animation, EA, Lucasfilm, and Ubisoft. His concert work includes New Collective Consciousness, an orchestral and choral piece addressing climate change performed by Los Angeles ensemble Tonality, which opened Björk’s 2022 West Coast tour. He has also created original music for NASA and written orchestral arrangements for the Super Bowl National Anthem.

As a producer, arranger, and collaborator across genres, Trapanese’s work spans partnerships with Dr. Dre, HAIM, Moby, Janelle Monáe, Zedd, and Kelly Clarkson. As a conductor, he has led ensembles including the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, and AUKSO Poland.

Trapanese 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 under Giampaolo Bracali, Bruce Broughton, and Paul Chihara. He has presented masterclasses at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music, USC’s Thornton School of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, and NYU. He is also a co-founder of The Echo Society, a Los Angeles collective dedicated to immersive, site-specific audiovisual performance.