Bio/Patrick Kirst, Composer
German-born composer Patrick Kirst is one of Hollywood’s next generation of film composers providing a fresh and a unique voice in the film music industry. He recently worked for Aaron Zigman on “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium”, starring Dustin Hoffmann and Natalie Portman, and “Sex and the City: the Movie”.
In 2007 Patrick was asked to compose additional music for Disney’s first nature documentary “Earth” based on BBC’s “Planet Earth”. “Earth” will have its theatrical release on Earth Day in April 2009.
Patrick has scored numerous features, shorts, and documentaries. He recently worked for composer Steve Porcaro on the PBS documentary “The American Experience – John & Abigail Adams” and on Lifetime’s TV miniseries based on four of Nora Roberts’ acclaimed novels, for which he wrote additional music and orchestrated.
After extensive studies at the Classical Music Conservatory in Karlsruhe Germany, he was awarded a national grant to do research on the perception of film music. In 2000, his journey continued abroad through a generous scholarship from Rotary International. He attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, followed by New York University and then the University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, where he studied under distinguished composers such as Academy Award nominee David Raksin, Golden Globe nominee Christopher Young, Jack Smalley and Grammy Award winner Joe Harnell.
In 2007 he joined the adjunct faculty at USC. He is honored to be part of the incredibly talented pool of faculty members and enjoys sharing his experience as an artist in today’s highly competitive film music market.
