# Luming Lu

Lu Lu-ming (Chinese: 盧律銘; pinyin: Lú Lǜmíng; born 23 June 1982), also known as Luming Lu, is a Taiwanese film score composer. He won Best Original Film Song with the horror film Detention (2019) in the 56th Golden Horse Awards and Best Original Film Score with the drama film The Falls (2021) in the 58th Golden Horse Awards.

## Early life

Lu was born on 23 June 1982, in Pingtung City, Taiwan. His father Lu Yong-hui was a lawyer and a member of the Pingtung Mediation Committee. He learnt to play the piano and violin at a young age. He considered himself deviant and rebellious during his school years and joined the rock music club. Inspired by Thom Yorke's album The Eraser, he began writing music. Due to his aptitude for mathematics in high school, he decided to study applied mathematics at I-Shou University after graduation. During his university years, he formed a band with his friends and devoted most of his time to music. After obtaining a Bachelor of Science, he fulfilled his mandatory military service and worked as a math tutor at a cram school. However, he did not enjoy his job and longed to pursue a career in music. Jenny Lu, his elder sister and a film director based in London, encouraged him to write music for films. He subsequently moved to the United Kingdom and enrolled at Kingston University to study film score composing, based on the recommendation of his sister and parents. He graduated with a Master of Music in Composing for Film and Television.

## Career

After graduation, Lu returned to Taiwan in 2010. He faced difficulties in finding job opportunities as a film composer and shifted his focus to writing music for pop singers instead, including Peggy Hsu's "A Letter to Mr. Tim Burton", which earned him a nomination for Best Instrumental Composer in the 27th Golden Melody Awards. He had also formed a band called Empty Space On a Chessboard, and won the Golden Indie Music Awards [zh] twice with albums Quarrel and innerSpacel he wrote for the band.
In 2016, he received his first film composing role in his sister's drama film The Receptionist. The following year, he composed for the mystery thriller film Xiao Mei [zh], earning nominations for Best Original Film Song and Best Original Film Score at the 55th Golden Horse Awards. In 2019, Lu composed for John Hsu's horror film Detention, showcasing his unique style of absurd vibes, and received widespread acclaim for his work. He won Best Original Film Song at the 56th Golden Horse Awards and received nominations for Best Original Film Score and Best Music at both the aforementioned Golden Horse Awards and the 2020 Taipei Film Awards. He also became a frequent collaborator of Hsu. In 2020, he composed for the drama film The Silent Forest and the romantic comedy film A Leg. For The Silent Forest, he employed low-key and environmental noises in the film score, removing loud background music to better suit the movie's atmosphere. In A Leg, he used bass, double bass, and xylophone to create a sense of absurdity. The former earned him a nomination for Best Original Film Score at the 57th Golden Horse Awards and he won Best Music at the 2021 Taipei Film Awards with the latter.
In 2021, Lu composed for the drama film The Falls, using banjo to evoke a sense of simplicity in the music, which earned him Best Original Film Score at the 58th Golden Horse Awards. Lu also composed "Rong Xue" for Faye in 2022 and received a nomination for Best Single Producer of the Year in the 33rd Golden Melody Awards. In 2023, he composed for the medical thriller film Eye of the Storm [zh] and the action thriller film The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon, receiving two nominations for Best Original Film Score at the 60th Golden Horse Awards. He was also invited to chair the jury for the Golden Indie Music Awards in the same year. Lu also composed for the horror comedy film Dead Talents Society, and received two nominations for Best Score for a Drama Series in the 59th Golden Bell Awards for his works on Port of Lies [zh] and Not a Murder Story [zh] in the following year, winning with Port of Lies.

## Personal life

Lu is married and had a daughter during the production of Detention.
In 2019, Lu voiced support for the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests on the 56th Golden Horse Awards ceremony and dedicated his award to the Hong Kongese protestors. He also made a public appeal for people to vote against the four propositions in the 2021 Taiwanese referendum.

## Discography
### Film

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2016 | The Receptionist | |
| 2017 | Xiao Mei [zh] | |
| 2019 | Detention | |
| 2019 | The Good Daughter [zh] | Documentary |
| 2020 | My Missing Valentine | |
| 2020 | A Leg | |
| 2020 | The Silent Forest | |
| 2021 | The Falls | |
| 2021 | The Soul | |
| 2022 | Untold Herstory | |
| 2023 | Eye of the Storm [zh] | |
| 2023 | The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon | |
| 2023 | A Boy and A Girl | |
| 2024 | Dead Talents Society | |

### Television

| Year | Title |
| 2016 | Close Your Eyes Before It's Dark |
| 2021 | Heaven on the 4th Floor [zh] |
| 2023 | Port of Lies [zh] |
| 2024 | Not a Murder Story [zh] |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 2017 | 52nd Golden Bell Awards | Best Sound | Close Your Eyes Before It's Dark | Won |
| 2018 | 55th Golden Horse Awards | Best Original Film Song | Xiao Mei [zh] | Nominated |
| 2018 | 55th Golden Horse Awards | Best Original Film Score | Xiao Mei [zh] | Nominated |
| 2018 | 30th Golden Melody Awards | Best Instrumental Album Producer | Xiao Mei [zh] | Nominated |
| 2019 | 56th Golden Horse Awards | Best Original Film Song | Detention | Won |
| 2019 | 56th Golden Horse Awards | Best Original Film Score | Detention | Nominated |
| 2019 | 2020 Taipei Film Awards | Best Music | Detention | Nominated |
| 2020 | 57th Golden Horse Awards | Best Original Film Song | My Missing Valentine | Nominated |
| 2020 | 57th Golden Horse Awards | Best Original Film Score | The Silent Forest | Nominated |
| 2020 | 2021 Taipei Film Awards | Best Music | The Silent Forest | Nominated |
| 2020 | 2021 Taipei Film Awards | Best Music | A Leg | Won |
| 2021 | 58th Golden Horse Awards | Best Original Film Score | The Falls | Won |
| 2023 | 2023 Taipei Film Awards | Best Music | Eye of the Storm [zh] | Nominated |
| 2023 | 60th Golden Horse Awards | Best Original Film Score | Eye of the Storm [zh] | Nominated |
| 2023 | 60th Golden Horse Awards | Best Original Film Score | The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon | Nominated |
| 2024 | 59th Golden Bell Awards | Best Score for a Drama Series | Port of Lies [zh] | Won |
| 2024 | 59th Golden Bell Awards | Best Score for a Drama Series | Not a Murder Story [zh] | Nominated |