Marco Beltrami returns to campus

In February, composer and YSM alum Marco Beltrami ’91MM returned to Yale to work with the School’s composition students in classroom and oneon-one sessions. Beltrami—who in October participated in a panel discussion called “Storytelling for Impact: Harnessing the Power of Arts, Media, and Culture,” which was organized as part of Yale’s “For Humanity Illuminated” campaign—studied at YSM with Jacob Druckman, after which he relocated to Los Angeles to study with Jerry Goldsmith at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music. Since then, Beltrami has scored dozens of Hollywood blockbusters including Free Solo, The Hurt Locker, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, and the movies from the Scream franchise. He recently completed work on the score for Renfield and began work on the latest John Wick film. We spoke with Beltrami about breaking into the film-scoring industry, the differences between that scene and the world of concert music, his approach to the work, and teaching, which, after college and graduate school, he said, wouldn’t have been a natural progression because at that point he felt he “had nothing to say, honestly.”

Are you asked frequently about an entry point into the film industry?

There are always a lot of questions from students about how one breaks into the business. In the commercial world, you’re trying to find someone who likes your ideas.

What are the primary differences between composing for film and writing for a live performance?

In film, you’re trying to talk to people who are not musically trained. It’s a very different dynamic. It’s a different skill set. You’re working for the vision of other people, serving a visual medium. The recording is the performance. A lot of stuff is manipulated and treated in the studio. You’re not thinking about repeat performances.

And writing for the concert hall...

It’s about the idea itself.

What does your process look like?

It is very different from project to project. It is unique. The process is the same in that I approach every film the same way, which is to get an overview of it and try to reduce it to its most simple characteristics. You’re trying to figure out what the point is that you want to convey, and how to do that.

You have a developing interest in teaching. How does that fit into your work and practice?

At this point, I have a little bit of real-world experience that might be beneficial to students. It’s an ongoing interest. As I get older the balance will move more toward teaching. At this point, I’m still immersed in (film scoring).

This conversation was edited for clarity. For Humanity presentation: forhumanity.yale.edu/