An internationally recognized film music conductor with thousands of hours in front of orchestras in Hollywood and around the world, award-winning film and television composer John Beal is as at home on the concert stage as he is in the recording studio. Principal Conductor of the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra™, Maestro Beal is a highly sought-after conductor and has conducted a wide and diverse variety of shows and live-to-film scores with many of the world’s greatest musicians in venues stretching from London to Tokyo, from the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, the National Orchestra of Belgium and The City of Prague Philharmonic, to the National Symphony of Malaysia Kuala Lumpur and the Evergreen Symphony of Taiwan, as well as major symphony orchestras throughout the United States, including several decades in Los Angeles with the Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra. Throughout his career as a Music Director, Maestro Beal has arranged and conducted orchestras on albums and in concerts and television with very diverse artists ranging from the world premiere of Rocketman: Live in Concert with Sir Elton John and Taron Egerton to the world premiere orchestral concert pf Electronica DJ Deadmau5, and singers Olivia Newton John, Gladys Knight, Ella Fitzgerald and B.B. King.
Fluent in the languages of jazz, classical, contemporary, electronic and world music, John Beal’s music has been featured on the President of the United States of America’s AIR FORCE ONE. He composed music for 45 theatrical features, television films and documentaries, 26 major network television series or specials, and was music director/music consultant for over 20 major network specials.
Working with composer Buddy Baker, and the Walt Disney Imagineering Team led by Marc Davis, John composed and arranged music for the Carousel of Progress, America Sings and Country Bear Jamboree at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Over several decades, Mr. Beal’s career also includes work as composer, conductor, music producer and creative consultant for over 35 national advertisers, including Intel, MCI, Microsoft, FlexJet, Dr. Pepper, Apple, Ben & Jerry’s, NASDAQ, and very motion picture studio in Hollywood.
John Beal was part of the ground-breaking team that created today’s contemporary motion picture trailer format and is recognized throughout the industry as the composer who defined its musical style and template. Composing original scores for the marketing of over 2,000 major studio projects, including forty of the top grossing films of all time, such as Star Wars, Titanic, Forrest Gump, Aladdin, Braveheart, The Matrix, The Last Samurai and many more, the success of movie campaigns to which John Beal contributed vital original creative is literally measured in hundreds of billions of dollars.
Throughout his career Mr. Beal collaborated as a conductor and arranger for recordings, television variety shows and concert tours with many diverse artists, such as Olivia Newton-John, Johnny Mathis, Gladys Knight, Ella Fitzgerald, Perry Como, and B.B. King. John Beal also composed original music for numerous hit television series, including Vega$ with Robert Urich, Eight Is Enough with Dick Van Patten and Betty Buckley, Happy Days with Ron Howard and Henry Winkler, Laverne & Shirley with Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams, Goodtime Girls with Annie Potts and Georgia Engel, Legmen with Bruce Greenwood and John Terlesky, and Chicago Story with Dennis Franz and Craig T. Nelson.
Mr. Beal’s industry honors include two Key Art awards, two Golden Trailer awards, two trailer awards from Hollywood.com, a Golden Score Award, International Film Music Critics Association Award, two Readers Choice awards, Moviescore Online award, and recognition for his contribution to two Emmy awards in Music Direction and Composition.
Mr. Beal attributes the passion that led him to pursue a lifetime in film and television music to childhood days watching silent film restorations at the side of family friend, celebrated theater organist Gaylord Carter, and credits an amazing group of mentors for his success: Composer William Kraft, five-time Academy Award nominee George Duning; Academy Award winner Dominic Frontiere; Disney’s Academy Award nominated composer Buddy Baker; Academy Award nominee and multiple Emmy Award-winning conductor Ian Fraser; twelve-time Emmy Award nominee, conductor Nick Perito; and Emmy Award-winning composers Billy Goldenberg and Earle Hagen
Currently living on the scenic California coast, Mr. Beal is married to Helene Nielsen Beal and enjoys the attending live theatre, symphony and opera concerts in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
