Alumni

Game of Thrones has been a megahit on television, and in the world of music, Ramin Djawadi's score for the show has earned accolades from critics. When Djawadi, a 1998 summa cum laude Berklee graduate, first came to the college, he concentrated on guitar and wanted to perform. But Berklee broadened his perspective. “The music I was writing lent itself to film,” he said in a Berklee interview. “Film music is a big passion of mine. Berklee showed me I could do both.”

Kevin Doucette '05 enjoys a thriving career in Los Angeles and India, working with A. R. Rahman and other notable Indian musicians. 

Banda Magda, founded by Greek-born singer, film scorer, and composer Magda Giannikou '08 and joined by several Berklee alumni, deftly melds styles from samba to Greek folk to Columbian cumbia and has caught the attention of everyone from Kronos Quartet to Louis C.K.

Saxophonist, composer, video game musician, and developer of therapeutic applications of music, Norihiko Hibino is truly a Renaissance man. Born in Osaka, Japan, in 1973, Hibino came to Berklee College of Music to pursue a career in jazz saxophone. After graduating in 1997, he began performing solo in Kansas City, Missouri, but veered into composing for video games after returning to Japan.

Tanya Noel Hill’s career as a music editor for such films as Elf and The Jungle Book began with her father, who once surprised her with a guitar she coveted despite its high cost. Then a teenager, Hill was so encouraged by his support of her dreams that she pursued her musical goals and ended up attending Berklee. She majored in film scoring and graduated in 1995.

Film and television composer Jessica Rae Huber B.M. '12 has created additional music for projects such as The Walking Dead, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Outlander, and has worked with composer Bear McCreary as assistant composer and scoring manager for his music production company, Sparks and Shadows. "I love telling stories. It's my way to be involved in the way our culture consumes really good stories, and that's what I'm passionate about," Huber said over the phone in her adopted home of Los Angeles. "I love being a part of that process."  

Howard Shore is a titan of Hollywood film scoring and has composed the scores for almost 100 feature films and television shows. He's a three-time Academy Award winner and is best know for his scores to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit Trilogies. Other credits include The Aviator, The Departed, Hugo, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, The Silents of the Lambs, Se7en, Gangs of New York, and Mrs. Doubtfire, to name a few. While Shore's time as a Berklee student predates the film scoring program, he credits his time at Berklee with helping him get his start. “Berklee had the keys to everything I was interested in” he said in a Berklee interview.

Alan Silvestri is a true Hollywood heavyweight, having scored more than 130 feature films and television programs. He is a twice Oscar-nominated composer and scored the films Avengers: Endgame, Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, The Polar Express, Night and the Museum, Lilo and Stitch, Predator, and many more. He describes his time as a Berklee student as, "filled with the greatest living talent in the jazz world....You were living in that environment and receiving as much by osmosis as by direct teaching. It had a huge impact.”

Pinar Toprak is an Emmy-nominated composer and rising star in Hollywood. She scored the smash hit Fortnite video game as well as the blockbuster Captain Marvel—both of which grossed more than $1 billion worldwide.