Modern Composer Graphic
Biography

Bruce Babcock

Applauded by Aaron Copland, inspired by Desmond Tutu, and mentored by Hugo Friedhofer and Earle Hagen, Bruce Babcock has spent his working life composing music for the musicians of Los Angeles. Successful in both film and television, and the concert hall, he is known for vibrant, sonorous, expressive pieces that immerse audience and performers alike in an inclusive and exuberant celebration of the musical art.

Bruce holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in music composition from California State University, Northridge. While at CSUN, Bruce’s Impasse was performed for Aaron Copland during his 1975 residency. Copland’s comments on the piece, recorded for posterity, include “an impression of musicality which is very pleasant, indeed…a convincing sense of an overall mood…knows what he wants…sure of what he’s doing.” 

In 2011, Bruce’s choral piece All Unto Me, composed for and inspired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, was performed at All Saints Church, Pasadena, with the Archbishop in attendance

His music has been performed and/or recorded by Grammy winners Gloria Cheng, Hila Plitmann, and The Crossing, in addition to Calvin Simmons, the Donald Brinegar Singers, Juliana Gondek, the Debussy Trio, the Antioch Ensemble, Pacific Serenades, the Artea Chamber Orchestra in San Francisco, the Kansas City Symphony, the Haga Motettkör of Göteborg, Sweden, the Space Coast Symphony, the Altius Quartet, the Sirius Quartet, the Armadillo Quartet Lindsey Goodman, Ovidiu Marinescu, Anna Kislitsyna, Armen Ksajikian, Robert Thies, Doug Masek, James Walker, and Jonathan Mack.

Bruce’s music has been performed at Carnegie Hall, Boston Metro Opera, the Herbst Theater in San Francisco, the Santa Barbara Chamber Music Festival (as composer in residence), the Beverly Hills International Music Festival (three seasons), Schoenberg Hall and Royce Hall at UCLA, the Bing Theater at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Rotunda at the Los Angeles City Hall, Mason Home Concerts in Los Angeles, on tour in China, and inside the dome of the 100-inch telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory near Pasadena, CA.

His concert music may be found on the Navona, Klavier, Centaur, and Mother Goose labels.

Bruce’s mentors in Hollywood included Hugo Friedhofer, Paul Glass, and Earle Hagen. He won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Composition for a Series in 1992, one of eight total Emmy nominations in a ten-year period, as well as eight TV/Film awards from BMI.

Television & Film Resume

PRIME TIME EMMYS
1992, Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series, Dramatic Underscore – “Matlock,” NBC, Viacom

DAYTIME EMMY NOMINATIONS (2)
1999 – “CASPER,” FOX, Universal, Amblin, Harvey Entertainment
1998 – “CASPER,” FOX, Universal, Amblin, Harvey Entertainment

PRIME TIME EMMY NOMINATIONS (6)
1995 – “Murder, She Wrote,” CBS, Corymore, Universal
1994 – “Murder, She Wrote,” CBS, Corymore, Universal
1993 – “Murder, She Wrote,” CBS, Corymore, Universal
1992 – “Matlock,” NBC, Viacom
1991 – “Father Dowling,” ABC, Viacom
1990 – “Matlock,” NBC, Viacom

BMI PRIMETIME TELEVISION MUSIC AWARDS (8)
“Murder, She Wrote,” 1995, 1994, 1993, “Matlock,” 1993, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988

AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MUSIC ARRANGERS & COMPOSERS (ASMAC)
Career Consistent Achievement Award, 2004

AS ORCHESTRATOR AND/OR CONDUCTOR
Green Lantern, Green Hornet, When in Rome, Year One, The Uninvited, Tropic Thunder, Mr. Magorium, Spider-Man 3, Trick ‘r Treat, Blades of Glory, Blood Diamond, You, Me & Dupree, Little Man, Monster House, Invincible, KingKong, Derailed, Venom, Four Brothers, Zathura, The Legend of Zorro, Idiocracy, Rebound, Sin City, The Game of Their Lives, Beauty Shop, Aliens of the Deep, Team America, Spider-Man 2, Dodgeball, Something the Lord Made, Ladder 49, Envy, The Core, Willard, Final Destination II, Abandon, Country Bears, Unfaithful, Murder By Numbers, Swordfish, Scenes Of The Crime, The Animal, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, The Glass House, Sweet November, Little Nicky, Charlie’s Angels, Recess: School’s Out, Bless The Child, U-571, Final Destination, Wonder Boys, Stuart Little, House On Haunted Hill, The Magic Box, Entrapment, Mystery Men, Doug’s First Movie, Lethal Weapon, Lethal Weapon 2, Lethal Weapon 3, Lethal Weapon 4, Lost In Space, Batman & Robin, Diehard, Diehard 2, Diehard 3, Tommy Boy, Naked Gun 33 1/3, The Last Boy Scout, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, The Package, Clean And Sober, Adventures In Babysitting

FILM ORCHESTRATIONS FOR…
James Newton Howard, Michael Kamen, Christopher Young, Alan Silvestri, William Ross, James Horner, Gabriel Yared, Jan Kaczmarek, Marc Shaiman, Don Davis, Shirley Walker, Mark Watters, David Newman, Ed Shearmur, Theodore Shapiro, Mark Isham, Richard Bellis

GOLD/PLATINUM RIAA RECORDINGS CREDITS
Orchestrations w/ Michael Kamen for the “METALLICA” album – “S&M” (Symphony & Metallica) with the San Francisco Symphony
Orchestrations w/ Michael Kamen for the “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” motion picture soundtrack album