John Beal

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 Pops Conductor of the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra(TM), 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 Brussels Philharmonic and The City of Prague Philharmonic, to the National Symphony of Malaysia Kuala Lumpur or 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 Elton John and Taron Egerton to the world premiere orchestral concert of Electronica DJ Deadmau5 Deadmau5, the world premiere of Serengeti Live with Lola Lennox, the U.S. concert debut of Olivia Newton-John, and for singers Gladys Knight, Ella Fitzgerald, and B.B. King. John Beal is a film and television composer and conductor, who is most well-known not only for his work on numerous hit television shows, but as the industry's leading composer of original scores for theatrical motion picture trailers for over thirty years. Beal specialized in actual scoring for trailers, rather than creating library music which would be randomly licensed and plugged into marketing campaigns. Working with Hollywood's movie marketing pioneer Andrew J. Kuehn, John was an integral part of the ground-breaking creation of today's definitive contemporary motion picture trailer form. John Beal is recognized throughout the industry as the creative who defined its musical style and template. Beal is the President of Reeltime Creative. Born in Santa Monica, California. His grandfather was involved with the very first television broadcasts from RCA in New York and the development of multi-channel sound for Disney's Fantasia (1940), and John's earliest years were spent in the San Fernando Valley, where he attended school with the children many of Hollywood's most famous stars. John was selected to be one of the child guests on Art Linkletter's The Linkletter Show (1952). John began piano studies at age six. By age eight, he had moved to La Cañada-Flintridge, California and was singing with a professional boys choir. His first job as a professional musician was as a drummer at age ten. In junior high school, he appeared on shows hosted by Steve Allen and Dick Clark. With studies at San Diego State and UCLA behind him, his musical career was interrupted by combat service in the United States Marine Corps, where he was decorated for heroism, bravery, valor and gallantry. John quickly returned to Hollywood to pursue his dream. In his twenties, he had already worked with Olivia Newton-John, Johnny Mathis, Gladys Knight, B.B. King, Ella Fitzgerald, Phyllis Diller (as her conductor and straight man) and many more stars as their music director and arranger. John began studying with composer mentors Earle Hagen, Dominic Frontiere and George Duning, while ghostwriting and orchestrating for many other major film and television composers and conducting for variety television shows. He also contributed original music to Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and Enchanted Village. His first feature film was Zero to Sixty (1978) with Darren McGavin and Joan Collins, and he continued scoring films (The Funhouse (1981), Terror in the Aisles (1984)) and many hit television series, beginning with Happy Days (1974), Laverne & Shirley (1976), Eight Is Enough (1977), Vega$ (1978), Chicago Story (1982) and Goodtime Girls (1980). 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, the success of movie campaigns to which John Beal contributed vital original creative is literally measured in hundreds of billions of dollars, with titles ranging from Aladdin (1992), Ghost (1990), Black Rain (1989), and Forrest Gump (1994) to The Matrix (1999), The Last Samurai (2003), Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), Titanic (1997) and True Lies (1994). Mr. Beal attributes the passion that led him to pursue a lifetime in film and television music to childhood days at the knee of family friend, celebrated silent movie theater organist Gaylord Carter, and to an amazing group of mentors: Five time Academy Award composer nominee George Duning; Academy Award winner Dominic Frontiere; Disney's Academy Award nominee 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.