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IMDbPro

Jeff Beal(I)

  • Composer
  • Music Department
  • Sound Department
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Jeff Beal, Symphony Hall, Boston
Documentarian John Chester and his wife Molly work to develop a sustainable farm on 200 acres outside of Los Angeles.
Play trailer2:30
The Biggest Little Farm (2018)
3 Videos
25 Photos
Jeff Beal is one of the most prolific and respected composers working in Hollywood today. He grew up studying the trumpet in the San Francisco Bay area, where he was immersed in the sounds of the 70's jazz, classical, rock & pop music scene. His prodigious talent in composition lead to many works for both big band and orchestra during his high school years. In his teens, his compositions were performed by the Oakland Youth Symphony under maestro Kent Nagano, the Monterey Jazz Festival All Star big band, and others.

After high school, Jeff went to the Eastman School of Music to study composition with Pulitzer prize winner Christopher Rouse, Rayburn Wright and Billl Dobbins. During the Eastman years, he was awarded an unprecedented 11 student awards from Downbeat Magazine for his compositions and trumpet playing. It was at Eastman Jeff also studied film scoring, and met the producers of what would become his first film assignment, Cheap Shots (1988).

Before moving to Los Angeles, Beal lived in New York City and San Francisco, where he pursued a career as a jazz recording artist and composer. His debut recording "Liberation" for Island Records was considered an underground classic by the New York jazz community. Beal would continue to release a total of seven solo recordings, and frequented as a guest artist on other recordings.

In 1993, after his "Concerto for Jazz Bass" was recorded by John Patitucci on Chick Corea's new label, Beal decided to make the move to Los Angeles . His big break came when Ed Harris called on Jeff to score his directorial debut Pollock (2000). Beal's unique blend of Americana, minimalism, and chamber orchestra caught the ear of many in Hollywood. This led to his relationship with HBO, where he has provided scores for two of their most adventurous series, Rome (2005) and Carnivàle (2003), resulting in 3 Emmy nominations. In total Beal has received 15 prime time nominations and 4 Emmy Awards to date.

Frequently called on to score assignments that require a unique and diverse musical approach, Beal won an Emmy for Battleground (2006)
  • a one hour no-dialog installment of "NIghtmares and Dreamscapes,"
directed by Brian Henson, starring William Hurt. "Battleground" was a modern day homage to the iconic no-dialog Twilight Zone episode, "The Invaders". Jeff's incredible sweeping and emotive orchestral score for the Ridley Scott CIA mini-series The Company (2007) also resulted in a prime time Emmy. His most recent Emmy is for the underscore to Netflix ground-breaking political drama, "House of Cards"

Other notable scores include Appaloosa (2008) dir. Ed Harris, No Good Deed (2002)dir. by Bob Rafelson, Little Red Wagon (2012) dir. David Anspaugh, Georgia O'Keeffe (2009) (TV)_ dir. by Bob Balaban the "Jesse Stone" films, dir. by Robert Harmon and the Golden Globe winning series Ugly Betty (2006). He also scored Wilde Salomé (2011) for Al Pacino, Mr. Pacino's long awaited follow up to Looking for Richard (1996). Beal has also been a frequent collaborator of Academy Award winner Jessica Yu, on In the Realms of the Unreal (2004), Protagonist (2007), and her feature documentary for Participant Productions; Last Call at the Oasis (2011).

Jeff's 1st prime time Emmy award came in 2001 for his season one theme song to Monk (2002). The instrumental theme was replaced in season two by the producers and became a cause célèbre among Monk fans and critics. This resulted in an online petition with thousands of signatures, and an episode by the show's writers "Mr. Monk and The TV Star" where a theme song change is protested by guest star Sarah Silverman.

Beal's scores are often driven by a strong sense of melody, and frequent use of chamber size instrumentations. In a musical climate where bigger is better seems to be the pervading aesthetic, his scores are often intimate, dramatically specific and character driven. He conducts and orchestrates his own scores, and often performs on them. He plays piano, trumpet, duduk, recorders, harmonica, percussion, rababa, oud, and french horn. Beal's wife Joan Beal is a trained opera singer and has sung on several of his scores, including Carnivàle (2003), The Situation (2006), and Wilde Salomé (2011).
BornJune 20, 1963
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornJune 20, 1963
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Unlock contact info on IMDbPro
  • Won 5 Primetime Emmys
    • 10 wins & 29 nominations total

Photos25

Jeff Beal with Oliver Stone, "The Putin Interviews"
Jeff Beal, Al Gore "An inconventient Sequel", Sundance premiere
House Of Cards in Concert World Premiere,  The National Symphony Orchestra, Jeff Beal, Kennedy Center Washington D.C. July 2016
House Of Cards in Concert World Premiere,  The National Symphony Orchestra, Jeff Beal, Joan Beal, Kennedy Center Washington D.C. July 2016
Robin Wright, Jeff Beal House Of Cards Season 3 premiere, London 2015
Recording "Wilde-Salome" with Al Pacino, Capital Records
Jeff Beal and Matt Embry in Living Proof (2017)
House Of Cards in Concert World Premiere,  The National Symphony Orchestra, Joan Beal (soprano) Jeff Beal (conductor) Kennedy Center Washington D.C. July 2016
Jeff Beal, flugelhorn House Of Cards in Concert World Premiere,  The National Symphony Orchestra, Kennedy Center Washington D.C. July 2016
House Of Cards In Concert, Jeff Beal, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Amsterdam April 2017
Jeff Beal, Boston Symphony Orchestra, recording "Boston" Feb. 2017
Jeff Beal, Boston Symphony Orchestra, recording "Boston" Feb. 2017

Known for

Kevin Spacey in House of Cards (2013)
House of Cards
8.7
TV Series
  • Composer
Ethan Hawke and Ewan McGregor in Raymond & Ray (2022)
Raymond & Ray
6.2
  • Composer
  • 2022
Rome (2005)
Rome
8.7
TV Series
  • Composer
Ed Harris in Pollock (2000)
Pollock
7.0
  • Composer
  • 2000

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Composer

  • Rather
    • Composer
    • Post-production
    • 2023
  • Jared Padalecki in Walker (2021)
    Walker
    • Composer
    • TV Series
    • 2021–2022
  • Ethan Hawke and Ewan McGregor in Raymond & Ray (2022)
    Raymond & Ray
    • Composer
    • 2022
  • Emma Schwartz, Mallory Newman, and Nathan Halverson in The Grab (2022)
    The Grab
    • Composer
    • 2022
  • Molly Chester and John Chester in The Biggest Little Farm: The Return (2022)
    The Biggest Little Farm: The Return
    • Composer
    • Short
    • 2022
  • Sarah Jones in Sell/Buy/Date (2022)
    Sell/Buy/Date
    • Composer
    • 2022
  • Blake J. Harris and Jonah Tulis in Gamestop: Rise of the Players (2022)
    Gamestop: Rise of the Players
    • Composer (music by)
    • 2022
  • JFK: Destiny Betrayed (2021)
    JFK: Destiny Betrayed
    • Composer
    • TV Mini Series
    • 2021
  • John F. Kennedy in JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass (2021)
    JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass
    • Composer
    • 2021
  • Ellen Barkin, Juliette Lewis, Matthew Modine, Clifton Collins Jr., Allison Janney, Mila Kunis, Regina Hall, Jimmi Simpson, Wanda Sykes, Christopher Lowell, and Awkwafina in Breaking News in Yuba County (2021)
    Breaking News in Yuba County
    • Composer
    • 2021
  • Blake J. Harris and Jonah Tulis in Console Wars (2020)
    Console Wars
    • Composer
    • 2020
  • Challenger: The Final Flight (2020)
    Challenger: The Final Flight
    • Composer
    • TV Mini Series
    • 2020
  • Athlete A (2020)
    Athlete A
    • Composer
    • 2020
  • Jay Sebring.... Cutting to the Truth (2020)
    Jay Sebring.... Cutting to the Truth
    • Composer
    • 2020
  • Inside Game (2019)
    Inside Game
    • Composer
    • 2019
  • Anne Winters in Grand Hotel (2019)
    Grand Hotel
    • Composer
    • TV Series
    • 2019

Music Department

  • Gradually, Then Suddenly: The Bankruptcy of Detroit (2022)
    Gradually, Then Suddenly: The Bankruptcy of Detroit
    • musician: flugelhorn
    • 2022
  • Ethan Hawke and Ewan McGregor in Raymond & Ray (2022)
    Raymond & Ray
    • soloist: trumpet
    • 2022
  • JFK: Destiny Betrayed (2021)
    JFK: Destiny Betrayed
    • music
    • TV Mini Series
    • 2021
  • Athlete A (2020)
    Athlete A
    • music producer
    • orchestrator
    • 2020
  • Jay Sebring.... Cutting to the Truth (2020)
    Jay Sebring.... Cutting to the Truth
    • conductor
    • trumpet/piano/french horn/electronics
    • 2020
  • Instrument of Hope (2020)
    Instrument of Hope
    • musician
    • Short
    • 2020
  • UAA Roar TV (2018)
    UAA Roar TV
    • composer: additional music
    • TV Series
    • 2018
  • Oliver Stone and Vladimir Putin in The Putin Interviews (2017)
    The Putin Interviews
    • score producer
    • TV Series
    • 2017
  • Newtown (2016)
    Newtown
    • composer: additional music
    • 2016
  • When I Walk (2013)
    When I Walk
    • composer: theme music
    • 2013
  • Blackfish (2013)
    Blackfish
    • conductor
    • music producer
    • musician: bass ...
    • 2013
  • Little Red Wagon (2012)
    Little Red Wagon
    • conductor
    • orchestration
    • 2012
  • Patricia Arquette in Medium (2005)
    Medium
    • music arranger: theme
    • music arranger: theme music
    • theme arranger
    • TV Series
    • 2005–2011
  • Mary McCormack in In Plain Sight (2008)
    In Plain Sight
    • composer: theme music
    • TV Series
    • 2008–2009
  • Renée Zellweger, Ed Harris, and Viggo Mortensen in Appaloosa (2008)
    Appaloosa
    • conductor
    • music engineer
    • musician ...
    • 2008

Sound Department

  • In the Realms of the Unreal (2004)
    In the Realms of the Unreal
    • sound recordist: Many Rooms Music
    • 2004
  • In-development projects at IMDbPro

Videos3

Official Trailer
Trailer 2:30
Official Trailer
Season 6: Official Trailer
Trailer 2:01
Season 6: Official Trailer
The Good Breast
Trailer 2:18
The Good Breast

Personal details

Edit
  • Official sites
    • Official Site
    • Twitter
  • Born
    • June 20, 1963
    • Hayward, California, USA
  • Spouse
    • Joan Beal1984 - present (1 child)
  • Other works
    Seven solo CDs on Triloka and Island Records. Most recent, "Alternate Route" on Unitone Records, released October 2000.

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    His score for Pollock (2000) has been used in trailers for several feature films including The Terminal (2004), Intolerable Cruelty (2003) and Mona Lisa Smile (2003).

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