Jeff Beal
Jeff Beal was inducted as an SCL Ambassador at the 2024 New York Holiday Party.
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Jeff Beal is a five-time Emmy® winner whose improvisatory method, sense of timing, and sophistication have made him a favorite of directors including Ed Harris (Pollock and Appaloosa), David Fincher (House of Cards), Oliver Stone (JFK Revisited, The Putin Interviews), Lauren Greenfeld (The Queen of Versailles, Generation Wealth) and Rob Reiner (Shock and Awe). His work on documentaries Blackfish, The Biggest Little Farm, Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Sequel, Athlete A, Frank Marshall’s Rather and dramatic scores for HBO’s Rome, Carnivàle, The Newsroom, USA’s Monk, Netflix House of Cards, AppleTV+’s Raymond & Ray have shown him to be one of the most distinctive and recognizable composers working today
In addition to his distinguished scoring career, Beal is a prolific composer of concert music. Recent commissioned works include “The Paper-Lined Shack” for Leonard Slatkin, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and soprano Hila Plitmann, “Sunrise” for the The Los Angeles Master Chorale, a flute concerto for Sharon Bezaly and the Minnesota Orchestra, and “Body in Motion”, a violin concerto for Kelly Hall-Tompkins. Beal’s performing, conducting, and composing worlds converged in 2016 when he led the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in the premiere of House of Cardsin Concert, with further performances in Miami, Denmark, The Netherlands (Concertgebouw), and Jerusalem. This symphonic work was recorded by BIS Records on the double SACD House of Cards Symphony, which includes Beal’s flute and guitar concerti, all conducted by the composer.
His latest recording, New York Etudes, is a collection of solo piano works, and has already had 4 million streams on Apple Classical. Beal was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2006, and these compositions focus on the connection of music making, wellness and mindfulness. He has been featured on NPR and BBC3 Radio performing and discussing the works, and has been named an official Steinway artist. Beal has also conducted The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in his original score for Keaton’s silent film The General, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra for the film score of Boston, as well as the Boston Pops Esplanade for the live-to-picture premiere of Boston. Beal gave his Carnegie Hall debut in June 2024 leading the Silver Nitrate Big Band and Fourth Wall in a concert of his score to The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari, presented as a part of Carnegie Hall’s 2024 Weimar Festival.