"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

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.