"Vivek Maddala knows how to tell a good story. [His music] can put a lump in your throat or make you laugh out loud. His themes are timeless and universal...."
                                                                           -Steve Paulson, NPR

"Vivek's artistic vision is striking, cinematic, and beautiful..."
                                                                           -Tom Karsch, Turner Entertainment

"...scored to the bleeding edge of hip."
                                                                           -Roger Ebert, on Vivek's music from KABOOM

 
About the Composer
 

Vivek Maddala is a four-time Emmy® award-winning composer and multi-instrumental performer. He has scored dozens of feature films, theater & dance productions, and TV programs. His music, which combines melodic symphony writing with modern textures from around the world, has been described as "an emotive frenzy of guitar, percussion, brass, woodwinds, and strings." 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. In 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 Vivek won consecutive Daytime Emmy Awards in the category of "Outstanding Music Composition" for his animation scoring work.

In addition to scoring films, Vivek has produced music for a number of rock, jazz, and world music CD releases -- and his live performances collaborating with celebrated artists have enchanted audiences from around the globe. As a 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 ballets and films.

Vivek has always sought to write music in the service of achieving social progress -- to study world affairs and affect them positively. 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 compositional 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 e xpression, brilliance of sound, and profoundly compassionate nature.

When scoring films, Vivek speaks with his unique musical voice. In a field where so much music sounds uniform and alike, Vivek has developed a personal style capable of expansive power and color, yet with remarkable sensitivity and subtlety. 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. Elegant musical motifs and careful orchestration combine to give Vivek's music a distinctive flavor that moves gracefully between tradition and innovation; with equal parts euphoria and introspection; frantic while elegant; drunken yet precise; and utterly human.

 


 

Honors and Awards

  • Grand Prize in the Young Film Composers Competition (2000)
  • ASCAP Film Scoring Fellowship (2002)
  • International JPF award for Best Soundtrack Album of the Year (2005) - The Patsy
  • Electronic Musician 2007 Editor's Choice Award
  • Future Music ACE Award (2007)
  • Film & TV Music Award nomination (2007), Grasshopper
  • Gold Medal for Artistic Excellence, PCFMF, Wild Oranges (2008)
  • Gold Medal, Audience Favorite, PCFMF, Grasshopper (2008)
  • Sundance Composer Fellow (2008)
  • Gold Medal for Artistic Excellence, Audience Favorite, Park City Film Music Festival, They Turned Our Desert Into Fire (2009)
  • BMI Conducting Workshop (2009)
  • Council of Young Engineering Alumni Award, Georgia Tech (2010)
  • Best Music in Film Nomination, Madrid International Film Festival (2014)
  • Hollywood Music in Media Awards nomination, Original Score for Documentary: American Revolutionary (2014)
  • Daytime Emmy Nomination for "Outstanding Music Direction & Composition," The Tom and Jerry Show (2017)
  • Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Music Direction & Composition," The Tom and Jerry Show (2018)
  • Annie Award Nomination for "Best Music: TV/Media," The Tom and Jerry Show (2019)
  • Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Music Direction & Composition," The Tom and Jerry Show (2019)
  • Annie Award Nomination for "Best Music: TV/Media," The Tom and Jerry Show (2020)
  • Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Music Direction & Composition," The Tom and Jerry Show (2020)
  • Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Music Direction & Composition," The Tom and Jerry Show (2021)
 

Notable Scores

    2022 Snowman's Land
    2022 Mid-Century
    2022 Plague at the Golden Gate
    2022 Cowboy Up!
    2021 The Tom and Jerry Show (TV Series)
    2020 The Tom and Jerry Show (TV Series)
    2020 The Asian Americans (TV Series)
    2019 The Tom and Jerry Show (TV Series)
    2019 All In My Family
    2018 Rainbow Bridge
    2018 The Tom and Jerry Show (TV Series)
    2017 K-Town '92
    2017 The Tom and Jerry Show (TV Series)
    2016 White Sun
    2016 The Tom and Jerry Show (TV Series)
    2015 The Parting Shot
    2015 Asha
    2015 Career Girl
    2014 Awake: The Life of Yogananda
    2014 The Polygon
    2014 The Ballad of Snake Oil Sam
    2013 The Welcome Table Project
    2013 American Revolutionary
    2013 I Will Find You
    2012 Highway
    2012 Children of Memory
    2012 Ashpordha (Audacity)
    2012 Here and Away
    2012 Lucifer's Crewcut
    2010 Kaboom
    2010 Red Dust
    2010 HBO's "Funny or Die Presents" (TV)
    2009 A Journey in My Mother's Footsteps
    2009 Warehouse 13 (TV Series, additional music)
    2008 Horizontal Leanings
    2008 Flash Gordon (TV Series, additional music)
    2007 They Turned Our Desert Into Fire
    2007 Whispers from Poland
    2007 Walking Tall
    2007 Ice Spiders (co-composer)
    2007 Nuclear Hurricane (co-composer)
    2007 Flash Gordon (TV Series, additional music)
    2006 Grasshopper
    2006 Wild Oranges
    2005 Portland at Play
    2005 Catch Up
    2005 Mother
    2005 Moon Chasing
    2005 Omar and Fiona
    2004 Gidoo's Cosmic Crisis
    2004 The Patsy
    2003 Martha's Bakery
    2002 Mysterious Lady
    2002 Equation
    2001 The Flag
    2000 Ace of Hearts

 

 

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