Jeff Beal is one of the most prolific and respected composers working inHollywood today. He grew up studying the trumpet in the San FranciscoBay area, where he was immersed in the sounds of the 70's jazz,classical, and the rock & pop music scene. His prodigious talent in compositionlead to many works for both big band and orchestra during his highschool years. In his teens, his compositions were performed by theOakland Youth Symphony under maestro Kent Nagano, the Monterey JazzFestival All Star big band, and others.

After high school, Jeff went to the Eastman School of Music to studycomposition with Pulitzer prize winner Christopher Rouse, RayburnWright and Bill Dobbins. During the Eastman years, he was awarded anunprecedented 11 student awards from Downbeat Magazine for hiscompositions and trumpet playing. It was at Eastman Jeff also studiedfilm scoring, and met the producers of what would become his first filmassignment,Cheap Shots (1988).

Before moving to Los Angeles, Beal lived in New York City and SanFrancisco, where he pursued a career as a jazz recording artist andcomposer. His debut recording "Liberation" for Island Records wasconsidered an underground classic by the New York jazz community. Bealwould continue to release a total of seven solo recordings, andfrequented as a guest artist on other recordings.

In 1993, after his "Concerto for Jazz Bass" was recorded by JohnPatitucci on Chick Corea's new label, Beal decided to make the move toLos Angeles. His big break came whenEd Harris called on Jeff to score hisdirectorial debutPollock (2000). Beal'sunique blend of Americana, minimalism, and chamber orchestra caught theear of many in Hollywood. This led to his relationship with HBO, wherehe has provided scores for two of their most adventurous series,Rome (2005) andCarnivàle (2003), resulting in 3Emmy nominations. In total Beal has received 15 prime time nominationsand 4 Emmy Awards to date.

Frequently called on to score assignments that require a unique anddiverse musical approach, Beal won an Emmy forBattleground (2006)

• a one-hour no-dialog installment of "NIghtmares and Dreamscapes,"

directed byBrian Henson, starringWilliam Hurt. "Battleground" was a modernday homage to the iconic no-dialog Twilight Zone episode, "TheInvaders". Jeff's incredible sweeping and emotive orchestral score fortheRidley Scott CIA mini-seriesThe Company (2007) also resultedin a prime-time Emmy.His most recent Emmy is for the underscore to Netflix ground-breaking political drama, "House of Cards".

Other notable scores includeAppaloosa (2008) dir. Ed Harris,No Good Things (2002) dir.Bob Rafelson,Little Red Wagon (2012) dir.David Anspaugh,Georgia O'Keeffe (2009) dir.Bob Balaban, the "Jesse Stone" films, dir. byRobert Harmon and the Golden Globe-winning seriesUgly Betty (2006).He also scoredWilde Salomé (2011) forAl Pacino, Mr. Pacino's long-awaited follow-uptoLooking for Richard (1996).Beal has also been a frequent collaborator of Academy Award winnerJessica Yu, onIn the Realms of the Unreal (2004),Protagonist (2007), and her feature documentary for Participant Productions;Last Call at the Oasis (2011).

Jeff's 1st prime-time Emmy award came in 2001 for his season one themesong toMonk (2002). The instrumentaltheme was replaced in season two by the producers and became a causecélèbre among Monk fans and critics. This resulted in an onlinepetition with thousands of signatures, and an episode by the show'swriters "Mr. Monk and The TV Star" where a theme song change isprotested by guest starSarah Silverman.

Beal's scores are often driven by a strong sense of melody, andfrequent use of chamber-size instrumentations. In a musical climatewhere bigger is better seems to be the pervading aesthetic, his scoresare often intimate, dramatically specific and character-driven. Heconducts and orchestrates his own scores, and often performs on them.He plays piano, trumpet, duduk, recorders, harmonica, percussion,rababa, oud, and french horn. Beal's wifeJoan Beal is a trained opera singer and hassung on several of his scores, includingCarnivàle (2003),The Situation (2006), andWilde Salomé (2011).