Carter Burwell

A film composer whose ingenuity is matched by his versatility, Carter Burwell played in New York post-punk bands before finding success creating scores for some of Hollywood’s most revered filmmakers, including Spike Jonze and Todd Haynes. Yet Burwell’s decades-long collaboration with Joel and Ethan Coen has generated much of his greatest work, starting with the eerie, desolate music he provided for the duo’s 1984 debut feature, Blood Simple. Keeping up with the Coens’ changes in style and genre, Burwell continually expanded his mastery of moods and modes to include the wild exuberance of Raising Arizona, the old-school Hollywood opulence of Hail, Caesar!, and much else in between. At the same time, his award-winning music for Haynes’ 2015 drama, Carol, and the Twilight franchise demonstrates the range of emotions he elicits whether he’s using a single piano or a vast orchestra.