EVDIV 314 - Composition Seminar

Jeff Beal
Composition Seminar is an exciting new offering to Juilliard Extension that introduces diverse perspectives on the field of music composition through the lens of a variety of world-renown guest faculty. In the spring 2025 semester, over the course of four sessions guest faculty member and composer Jeff Beal will coach 6 advanced composition students on their work and will share insights on the craft of music composition and his career as a composer. Participating students will have their works read by Juilliard musicians. Only students who have taken Advanced Composition at Juilliard Extension may apply for the coaching section. However, all others who are interested are encouraged to register for the auditing section where they can attend the classes in person and learn from each session in a masterclass format. Please note, audit section students will not have their works read by musicians or coached by the instructor. Application is required for the coaching section of this course.

Biography: Jeff Beal is a composer with a genre-defying musical fluidity. His film scores have received critical acclaim, while he remains a respected composer in the concert, theater and dance worlds.

Beal’s evocative score and theme for the Netflix drama House of Cards received five Emmy Award nominations, and recently won for outstanding score, bringing Beal’s Emmy tally to eighteen nominations and five statues. Other lauded series include HBO’s Carnivale and Rome. Film scores feature the documentaries Blackfish and Queen of Versailles and dramas Pollock and Appaloosa.

Beal’s orchestral works have been performed by the St. Louis, Rochester, Pacific, Munich, and Detroit symphony orchestras. Commissions include works for the Metropole Orchestra, The Ying Quartet, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Henry Mancini Institute, Prism Brass Quintet, Smuin Ballet, and Grammy winner Jason Vieaux. His first choral commission, The Salvage Men, was written for the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the Eric Whitacre Singers. Music for theater includes 2015 the World Science Festival production Light Falls.

Born and raised in the San Fransisco Bay Area, Beal’s grandmother was a pianist who performed on the radio and as accompanist for silent movies. Beal graduated from the Eastman School of Music where he and his wife, Joan, recently donated $2 million to the creation of The Beal Institute for Film Music and Contemporary Media.

4 weeks

Thursdays 6–8pm ET

March 13–April 3

In Person Only

Coaching Section
$640 plus $130 musician fee per semester

APPLY ONLINE >

Auditor Section
$240