Katya Richardson
- Composer
- Music Department
- Actress
Katya Richardson is a composer, producer, and pianist based in Los Angeles. Throughout her dynamic and multidisciplinary work, she crafts cinematic textures that explore the gap between stage and screen. Her music draws inspiration from the dreamy Italian film scores of the 1960s, jazz improvisation, and her Ukrainian heritage.
From 2011-13, Richardson was one of four high school students selected to the Los Angeles Philharmonic Composer Fellowship Program. At the age of 15, she made her Walt Disney Concert Hall debut with an orchestral composition written for the LA Phil. In 2016, her "Fanfare for Orchestra" was selected by an all-star panel to premiere at the Hollywood Bowl Opening Night / Steely Dan concert and was performed by the infamous Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, conducted by Thomas Wilkins.
As a film and TV composer, Richardson frequently collaborates with Breakwater Studios, and in 2022, earned a Hollywood Music in Media Award for her score to Emmy-nominated Op-Doc, Mink! (2022). Her latest score for Academy-Award-winning film, The Last Repair Shop (2023), received a Critic's Choice Documentary Award Nomination for Best Score and an ASCAP Composers' Choice Award nomination for Documentary Score of the Year. Notably, she has worked with composer Danny Elfman on The Grinch (2018) and Dr. Strange (2022), and with Rob Simonsen on Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021).
Richardson's creative and collaborative spirit also brings her to the world of modern dance; she premiered pieces at the Royal Opera House in London and has scored works for Joffrey Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, and Bayerisches Staatsballett in Munich. Her most recent dance work, VORTEX, is a 65-minute collaboration with esteemed British choreographer Russell Maliphant OBE, which debuted at Sadler's Wells in May 2023.
Richardson is an alumna of the University of Southern California and a recipient of the prestigious Trustee Scholarship.
From 2011-13, Richardson was one of four high school students selected to the Los Angeles Philharmonic Composer Fellowship Program. At the age of 15, she made her Walt Disney Concert Hall debut with an orchestral composition written for the LA Phil. In 2016, her "Fanfare for Orchestra" was selected by an all-star panel to premiere at the Hollywood Bowl Opening Night / Steely Dan concert and was performed by the infamous Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, conducted by Thomas Wilkins.
As a film and TV composer, Richardson frequently collaborates with Breakwater Studios, and in 2022, earned a Hollywood Music in Media Award for her score to Emmy-nominated Op-Doc, Mink! (2022). Her latest score for Academy-Award-winning film, The Last Repair Shop (2023), received a Critic's Choice Documentary Award Nomination for Best Score and an ASCAP Composers' Choice Award nomination for Documentary Score of the Year. Notably, she has worked with composer Danny Elfman on The Grinch (2018) and Dr. Strange (2022), and with Rob Simonsen on Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021).
Richardson's creative and collaborative spirit also brings her to the world of modern dance; she premiered pieces at the Royal Opera House in London and has scored works for Joffrey Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, and Bayerisches Staatsballett in Munich. Her most recent dance work, VORTEX, is a 65-minute collaboration with esteemed British choreographer Russell Maliphant OBE, which debuted at Sadler's Wells in May 2023.
Richardson is an alumna of the University of Southern California and a recipient of the prestigious Trustee Scholarship.
