Composer Marco Beltrami to Be Honored by Ghent Film Festival (EXCLUSIVE)

By Jon Burlingame

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – American composer Marco Beltrami will be the guest of honor at the World Soundtrack Awards, part of the Ghent Film Festival, on Oct. 18 in Belgium.

Beltrami, a two-time Oscar nominee (for “3:10 to Yuma” and “The Hurt Locker”), recently scored the horror hit “A Quiet Place” and the Oscar winner for Best Documentary “Free Solo.” Music from both will be performed in a concert by the Brussels Philharmonic.

Festival music director Dirk Brossé, who will conduct, called Beltrami “an all-around composer whose music moves within the most diverse musical styles and genres. Dedicating considerable attention to melody and obsessed by rhythms, Marco offers a rich palette of both acoustic and electronic colors.”

The runs from October 8 to 18 this year. It is widely considered one of the world’s leading events devoted primarily to film music; past concerts have featured such leading composers as Hans Zimmer, Ennio Morricone, Michael Kamen, Gabriel Yared and Elmer Bernstein.

Beltrami came to prominence with his music for Wes Craven’s “Scream” tetralogy and went on to do several hits in the sci-fi genre including “World War Z,” “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” and “I, Robot.” His action scores include “Live Free or Die Hard” and the Hugh Jackman Marvel movies “Logan” and “The Wolverine.”

He collaborated with director Guillermo del Toro on “Hellboy,” “Blade II” and “Mimic” and with Tommy Lee Jones on “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada” and “The Homesman.” He also composed the theme for the wildly popular videogame “Fortnite.” Themes and suites from many of these scores are expected to be performed at the concert.

Beltrami recently reunited with his “Logan” director James Mangold on “Ford v. Ferrari”; worked with Ang Lee on “Gemini Man”; and is currently scoring producer Jordan Peele’s new version of “The Twilight Zone” for CBS All Access.

Also featured will be composer Tamar-kali, whose acclaimed score for Dee Rees’ “Mudbound” won her last year’s Discovery of the Year award at Ghent. Since then she has scored “Come Sunday” and Rees’ latest film, the political thriller “The Last Thing He Wanted.” A suite from “Mudbound” is expected to be performed.

The World Soundtrack Awards, now in their 19th year as part of the festival, are among the most prestigious in the global film music community. They recognize achievements in film and television music, songs and scores, emerging talent and lifetime achievements.