Nathan Halpern’s score for The Rider named #3 in VULTURE / NEW YORK MAGAZINE’s “10 BEST MOVIE SCORES OF 2018.”

Nathan Halpern

Nathan Halpern is an Emmy-nominated composer, named one of INDIEWIRE's ‘Composers to Watch.' He was recently named a 'Composer to Watch' by CLASSIC FM. He composed the scores to two films from Barack Obama's list of the Best Films of the Year: The Cannes-winning narrative feature THE RIDER (Sony Pictures Classics) and the Oscar-nominated documentary feature MINDING THE GAP (HULU). These films won Best Picture and Best Documentary respectively from the NATIONAL SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS AWARDS. Halpern’s score for THE RIDER was featured at #3 in Vulture/New York Magazine's 10 BEST MOVIE SCORES OF THE YEAR, and was described as "a plaintively lovely score" (LA TIMES) and "a beautiful score" (SCREEN ANARCHY). The score for MINDING THE GAP was nominated for a Cinema Eye Award for Best Musical Score. It was described as an "achingly beautiful score" (WALL STREET JOURNAL) and "melancholy perfection" (VULTURE/NEW YORK MAGAZINE).

Recently released films include the award winning psychological thriller SWALLOW (starring Haley Bennett / Tribeca Film Festival). INDIEWIRE wrote that "Nathan Halpern's retro-thriller score is a highlight," and THE PLAYLIST praised the score as "great music." Other recent films include the acclaimed New York Times / Netflix feature documentary FATHER SOLDIER SON (streaming July 17, 2020), the social realist fairy tale GOLDIE (starring Slick Woods / VICE FILMS / 20th Century Fox), 2019 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner ONE CHILD NATION (Amazon Studios). Television scores airing in 2020 have included THE VOTE (PBS) a two-part series on the fight for women's suffrage and DIRTY MONEY (Netflix).

Three films scored by Nathan Halpern were nominated for Emmys this past year: MINDING THE GAP (Hulu), TRUMP AND TAXES (Showtime), and THE WORKERS CUP. And four films scored by Halpern were Emmy-nominated the year previous: WHAT HAUNTS US (STARZ); THE WITNESS; JOAN DIDION: THE CENTER WILL NOT HOLD (NETFLIX); and ABORTION: STORIES WOMEN TELL (HBO FILMS.) He was also nominated for a HOLLYWOOD MUSIC IN MEDIA AWARD for Best Original Song for “Calling to Me” from ONE PERCENT MORE HUMID (Sony Pictures), starring Juno Temple and Julia Garner.

Other notable scores include the Timothee Chalamet and Kiernan Shipka-starring supernatural thriller ONE AND TWO (IFC Films / Berlinale), which Variety called "hauntingly scored;” the Slick Woods-starring urban fable GOLDIE (Vice Films / Berlinale 2019), the Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner RICH HILL ("one of the best scores we've heard in years" - Indiewire); the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning MARINA ABRAMOVIC: THE ARTIST IS PRESENT (HBO Films); and the 2017 Oscar-shortlisted films HOOLIGAN SPARROW and THE WITNESS. His music has accompanied new dance works by the London Royal Ballet and the New English Ballet Theater (London). He was commissioned to create '1913' a three hour-music performance/installation presented by Halpern at The Armory in New York City, commemorating the first International Exhibition of Modern Art.