Bear McCreary
Bear McCreary (born February 17, 1979) is an American musician and composer of film, television, and video game scores based in Los Angeles, California. His work includes the scores of the television series Battlestar Galactica (2004), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Outlander, The Walking Dead, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Serpent Queen, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Halo, the video games Call of Duty: Vanguard, God of War and God of War Ragnarök, and the film Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
Bear McCreary
February 17, 1979
Composer
2004–present
La La Land Records, Sparks & Shadows
McCreary has been nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for his work on season one of Outlander[1] and won one Emmy for the main title of Da Vinci's Demons.[2] He is also a two-time winner of both the British Academy Games Award for Music and D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition for his work on God of War and Ragnarök.[3]
Early life and education[edit]
McCreary was raised in Bellingham, Washington.[4] He is the son of author Laura Kalpakian and professor Jay McCreary of University of Hawaii at Manoa. His brother, Brendan McCreary, is also a musician. Bear has directed and produced several music videos for Brendan's band, Young Beautiful in a Hurry.[5] He graduated from Bellingham High School in 1997.[6]
He is a classically trained pianist and self-taught accordionist.[6][7] He studied under the renowned film score composer Elmer Bernstein during which time he reconstructed and reorchestrated Bernstein's 1963 score for Kings of the Sun. Their collaboration allowed for the complete score to be available as a soundtrack album for the first time in 40 years.[8]
McCreary went to USC Thornton School of Music at the encouragement of Elmer Bernstein, becoming his protégé and graduating in 2002.
Personal life[edit]
McCreary married singer and songwriter Raya Yarbrough in 2010. They have collaborated on the music of Battlestar Galactica, Outlander, Defiance, Da Vinci's Demons, among other projects.[30][31] Their daughter Sonatine, named after the musical term sonatina, was born on June 2, 2014.[32]
Influences[edit]
McCreary credits composers Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein, Danny Elfman, Ennio Morricone, John Williams, Basil Poledouris, and Shirley Walker as being key to his growing up adoring film music. They were his heroes.[33]
