Nathan Kelly

Nathan "Nate" Kelly (October 22, 1990) is an American composer and arranger best known for his scores for recording artists, such as Andrea Bocelli, Dionne Warwick, Joss Stone, Rod Stewart, the O'Jays, AJR, CeeLo Green, Kristen Chenoweth, Audra McDonald, Lea Salonga, Jessye Norman, Leslie Gore, and Mary J. Blige. His musical contributions have reached #2 on the Billboard Top 10 list, been the best-selling holiday album for Jackie Evancho’s Heavenly Christmas, and been seen by millions on television for Macy’s Fireworks Fourth of July, America’s Got Talent, and The Tony Awards.
In Kelly's contemporary compositions, he blends an eclectic mix of avant-garde styles, employing extended techniques, special effects, and unconventional playing methods, which starkly contrasts with his commercial work rooted in traditional tonality and forms. For his contemporary music, Kelly has been appointed a Visiting Artist and Scholar at The American Academy of Rome, a Morse Teaching Artist at The Juilliard School, Thayer Fellowship and Patricia Kerr Ross Award from the NY Council on the Arts, and a National Endowment for the Arts.
==Education==
===Universities & Conservatories===
Born in Houston, Texas, Dr. Kelly studied classical and jazz piano at the University of North Texas before graduating with a Bachelors in Music degree from the University of Texas at Austin in Music Theory, studying composition with Donald Grantham and Pulitzer Prize winner Kevin Puts.
Kelly studied 'Screen Scoring' at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, with noted film and television composers Bruce Broughton, Joel McNeely, and was mentored by Thomas Newman after being personally selected by Dean of the Thornton School of Music, Robert Cutietta. While there, Kelly served as a music assistant to the Chairman at Verve Records label within Universal Music Group, working alongside 16-time Grammy winner David Foster. Kelly contributed to arrangements, orchestrations, and transcriptions across multiple albums, receiving feedback from Foster during his training.
He undertook formal graduate training in Music Composition at the Juilliard School in New York City, studying with composers John Corligiano and Matthias Pintscher. Kelly won numerous scholarships and teaching fellowships at Juilliard, including the Morse Teaching Fellowship, through which he instructed gifted composers and performers identified by the school in New York City and its surrounding boroughs.
He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Buffalo with a PhD in Music Composition in 2019. He studied composition with David Felder and founded his own Pierrot Ensemble. Additionally, Kelly earned a second Master's Degree in Business Administration from Western Governors University in 2021.
===Music Festivals===
Kelly also took further studies in Music Composition at the Aspen Music Festival and School with film composer Marco Beltrami; at the Tanglewood, Massachusetts Music Festival with Andrè Previn and later assisted Previn as an orchestrator for several of Previn’s orchestral commissions, including Owls; Three Dickinson Poems; Tango, Song, & Dance; and Harp Concerto; the Bowdoin Music Festival with composer Derek Bermel; the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program with Hummie Mann; the Atlantic Center for the Arts with David Felder; the Atlantic Music Festival with composer Reiko Fueting and Pierre Jalbert; and, the June-In-Buffalo Music Festival with Hans Abrahamsen (2014) and Joshua Fineberg (2018). He was also selected for orchestral recording sessions at the ASCAP ‘Buddy Baker’ film scoring workshop in New York (2010) and the ASCAP ‘Richard Bellis’ film scoring workshop in Los Angeles (2013).
==Career==
===Stage Work===
Kelly began his career in NYC as a pianist and conductor for several Broadway productions, such as Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Forbidden Broadway, the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, The Phantom of the Opera, Gypsy starring Patti LuPone, and Grease. His first work was on Oprah Winfrey's The Color Purple in 2005 where he met celebrated orchestrator Jonathan Tunick, a frequent collaborator with Stephen Sondheim, who would exhibit significant influence on Kelly's arranging and orchestrating career in subsequent years. Kelly then turned his focus to writing orchestrations, contributing several sections of work in collaboration with William David Brohn on Kander and Ebb’s Broadway musical Curtains in 2012. During this period, Kelly also worked as a music copyist for several music publishers, including Schott Helicon International and for various concert composers such as Peter Schickele and Tobias Picker and several workshops for upcoming musicals such as Legally Blonde, An Officer and a Gentleman, and Kander and Ebb’s All About Us.
He also met musical theater veteran Danny Troob, a frequent collaborator with Alan Menken. Troob also became a mentor to Kelly and they worked on several musical theater shows together, notably 101 Dalmatians (2009), Hugh Jackman In Concert (2015), Gypsy starring Patti LuPone (2015), the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall (2015), Newsies (2017), and the Disneyland’s California Adventure attraction Ariel's Undersea Adventure (2013). He also assisted on several of Troob's films and television works, contributing as an orchestrator’s assistant and proofreader on Disney's Enchanted (2008), Beauty and the Beast (2017), Galavant episodes (2017), and Did You Hear About the Morgans (2012). Kelly also orchestrated music for Shanghai Disneyland’s production of Tarzan in 2012 for composer Don Harper. 
Kelly also arranged music for the Carnegie Hall debut for singer Lea Salonga in 2005, as well as for singer Audra McDonald at Carnegie Hall in 2009, which was later featured with the New York Philharmonic’s New Year's Eve Concerts in 2010 and later broadcast on PBS Great Performances. He also wrote new introductory fanfare material and song arrangements for Kristen Chenoweth at the Hollywood Bowl with members of the LA Philharmonic in 2010. Chenoweth continues to feature these songs in her world tours as a guest artist with orchestras around the world. 
Kelly worked as music assistant for composer Marc Shaiman in Los Angeles during the composing of the musical Catch Me if You Can as proofreader and contributing orchestrator in 2010. He assisted orchestrator William David Brohn as music copyist on Stephen Schwartz's three hour, two-act opera Séance on a Wet Afternoon. Kelly worked with Schwartz on the production's development from 2007 to 2011, participating in various readings, workshops, and several early stage productions before culminating in the final realization and premiere at Opera Santa Barbara in 2009 and New York City Opera in 2011. His music engraving is featured in the final publication by Boosey and Hawkes.
===Film and Television===
In 2010, Kelly relocated to Hollywood and began orchestrating for various film and television composers, including Christopher Young, Mateo Messina, Vidjay Beerepoot, Alex Heffes, Atli Övarsson, Ryan Shore, Don Harper, and Joseph Trapanese.
Kelly worked for composer Mateo Messina on several film productions in Los Angeles. He orchestrated and conducted several scores for Messina films, such as The Angriest Man in Brooklyn (starring Robin Williams), While We Were Here, and Family Weekend (starring Kristen Chenoweth). 
Kelly also orchestrated for composer Joseph Trapanese. In 2023, Kelly wrote orchestrations for the Netflix anime series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, featuring musical numbers and original musical songs by BenDavid Grabinski, Bryan Lee O'Malley, and Joseph Trapanese. He also made orchestral reductions and suites of Trapanese's films, such as for The Greatest Showman, the video game Wolf Warrior 2, and Oblivion in collaboration with Anthony Gonzalez from M83. Suites and scores were performed live at Spain's Cordoba Festival, Film Festival Ghent, and at the Hollywood Bowl. 
Kelly also conducted and orchestrated several scores for composer Vidjay Beerepoot. These scores include the ten-part Netflix series Brussel, the full-length animated feature Triple Trouble, The Power of the Heart (with Maya Angelou and Deepak Chopra), Diversion, Out of Time, and The Club for Ugly Children which was the Grand Prize Winner at the 30th European Youth Film Festival. Kelly’s orchestrations for the score for the full-length animated film The Little Vampire, based on the popular children's book by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg was theatrically released in 3D in 2018 with a song sung by Phoebe Givron-Taylor and was later distributed on Netflix.
Kelly also worked as Music Coordinator for Steven Spielberg's West Side Story (2021).
===Recording Artists===
While in Los Angeles, Kelly met 16-time Grammy winning music producer David Foster, Chairman of Verve Records at Universal Music Group. He began working on Foster's two-person music team as an assistant at his home studio in Malibu, contributing music and helping to create new orchestrations and arrangements on albums for several artists. During this period, Kelly contributed to projects including Michael Bublé's "Christmas," Andrea Bocelli's "Passione," Mary J. Blige's "A Mary Christmas," and Rod Stewart's "Merry Christmas, Baby," the latter of which was televised on PBS Great Performances, where Kelly also worked as arranger and copyist. He also worked on Bocelli’s companion album Passione (a Deluxe, two-disc edition) and the PBS Special Love in Portofino (2013), in which Kelly also worked as an arranger and copyist. Kelly's arrangement of Quizas, Quizas, Quizas for Bocelli was further re-recorded with Jennifer Lopez as a duet and was televised for multiple public television appearances. The track reached #2 on Billboard Top 10 in 2012. With Foster, Kelly also arranged the track Let It Be Me for Bryan Adams, and is featured as a bonus track on his Live in Japan album in 2013. In addition to musical work, Kelly also assisted with various scheduling duties for Foster and Friends, Foster’s world tour with several all-star recording artists. Kelly can also be seen in the background of various episodes of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills that featured Foster's then-wife Yolanda Hadid.
Kelly has also arranged music for television, Kelly's original vocal and orchestral arrangement of the title song "Somewhere" from West Side Story on Jackie Evancho’s album The Debut (2019), that was also featured live on the finale of ABC’s America's Got Talent the same year. He wrote arrangements of the Star-Spangled Banner and God Bless America played by the Air Force Band live on Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks over New York City that aired on NBC in 2013, incidental music for The Tony Awards, orchestral accompaniments for the touring Irish vocal group Celtic Thunder, vocal soprano Jessye Norman's orchestral concerts, and contributing orchestrations for the musical Mame at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2008. 
In 2014 Kelly wrote 21 all-new orchestral arrangements, featuring newly stylized musical ideas and settings from existing tracks by the rock band brothers Ron and Russell Mael, known as SPARKS. These 21 were performed by the duo in an orchestral concert called SPARKS: Live at the Barbican featuring the 28-piece Heritage Orchestra, conducted by Jules Barkley. The show received critical acclaim and was later produced in the United States. The US concert, SPARKS: Live at the Ace Hotel, was performed in Los Angeles in 2016, also receiving critical acclaim. Kelly and his musical arrangements are featured in the two-hour 2021 documentary film The SPARKS Brothers, directed by Edgar Wright.
In 2016, Kelly wrote new interstitial music and arrangements for thirty songs for pianist Jim Brickman. Performances of these musical works from Kelly continue to be used and performed by orchestras by Brickman around the world. Kelly also wrote an arrangement for piano and orchestra of ”The Nutcracker Suite” specifically for Brickman that was recorded and commercially released on his album Comfort and Joy (2017). 
During this period, Kelly also collaborated with notable music producers such as Robert John "Mutt" Lange, Bob Rock, Steve Greenberg, John Angier, and Michael Mangini. With the latter two, Kelly worked as an arranger on several noteworthy albums, including Joss Stone's "Soul Sessions II," Dionne Warwick's "Only Trust Your Heart" (2009), AJR's YouTube Live Concert with the OK Orchestra (2021), The O'Jays' album "The Last Word" (2019), and Jackie Evancho's "The Debut," which features a collection of Broadway songs (2019). Additionally, Kelly assisted music producers Walter Afanasieff and Babyface on Barbara Streisand's album "Partners" in 2014. He also closely collaborated with film composer Mateo Messina to produce live concert performances with members of the Seattle Symphony and benefitting the Seattle Children’s Hospital, which showcased artists such as Imogen Heap, Five for Fighting, Pomplamoose, and Thousand Foot Krutch.
==Affiliations==
Kelly is a member of Phi Kappa Psi, Golden Key National Honors Society, The Society for Composers and Lyricists, The American Music Arrangers and Composers, The Society for Collegiate Leadership and Achievement, Local 802 American Federation of Musicians, The Freelancers Union, and The Ravel Society in NYC. 
From 2018 to 2021, Dr. Kelly served as the Executive Director of the Cutting Edge Concerts series, a New York City-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization showcasing performances and discussions by leading contemporary composers and ensembles at Symphony Space.
==List of Works==
===Filmography===
Year	Title 	Role 	Director 	Category
2007	Grease: You're the One That I Want! 	Musician: Piano 	Kathleen Marshall 	TV Series (2 episodes)
2007	The 61st Annual Tony Awards 	Orchestrator 	Glenn Weiss 	TV Special
2007	Enchanted 	Proofreader: Orchestrator 	Kevin Lima 	Film
2007	The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts - Mame	Music Preparation, Orchestrator 	Eric Schaeffer, Warren Carlyle 	TV Special
2008	Spy School 	Composer: Additional Music 	Mark Blutman 	Film
2008	The 62nd Annual Tony Awards 	Orchestrator 	Glenn Weiss 	TV Special
2010	Until There Was You 	Composer 	Scott Winant 	Video
2011	Did You Hear About the Morgans? 	Assistant to the Orchestrator 	Marc Lawrence 	Film
2011	Moe's Musical Morning 	Composer 	Louis Morton 	Animated Short
2011	inFamous 2 	Score Proofreader 	Nate Fox 	Video Game
2011	Batman: Arkham City 	Proofreader: Orchestrator 	Sefton Hill 	Video Game
2011	Three Holiday Tails 	Orchestrator 	Joe Menendez 	TV Movie
2011	PBS Great Performances: Jackie Evancho “Dream With Me” 	Music Coordinator 	John Perry 	TV Series
2012	Underworld: Awakening 	Score Proofreader 	Måns Mårlind, Björn Stein 	Film
2012	And While We Were Here 	Conductor, Orchestrator 	Kat Coiro 	Film
2012	La Source 	Orchestrator 	Patrick Shen, Brandon Vedder 	Film
2012	PBS Great Performances: Rod Stewart 	Music Preparation, Arranger 	Jim Gable 	TV Series
2013	Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters 	Orchestrator 	Tommy Wirkola 	Film
2013	Girl on a Bicycle 	Orchestrator 	Jeremy Leven 	Film
2013	PBS Great Performances: Andrea Bocelli “Love in Portofino” 	Music Preparation, Arranger 	David Horn 	TV Series
2013	Family Weekend 	Music Preparation, Conductor, Score Orchestrator	Benjamin Epps 	Film
2013	From the Rough 	Conductor, Orchestration 	Pierre Bagley 	Film
2014	The Angriest Man in Brooklyn 	Conductor, Orchestrator 	Phil Alden Robinson 	Film
2014	Triple Trouble 	Conductor, Orchestrator 	Albert 't Hooft, Paco Vink 	Film
2017	The Post 	Proofreader, Copyist 	Steven Spielberg 	Film
2017	Brussel 	Orchestrator 	Arno Dierickx 	TV Series 
(10 episodes)
2018	Ready Player One 	Proofreader, Copyist 	Steven Spielberg 	Film
2017	The Little Vampire 3D 	Orchestrator 	Richard Claus, Karsten Kiilerich	Film
2019	The Club of Ugly Children 	Orchestrator 	Jonathan Elbers 	Film
2020	Diversion 	Orchestration 	Shailendra Singh 	Film
2021	Out of Time 	Orchestrator 	Matt Handy 	Film
2021	West Side Story 	Music Coordinator 	Steven Spieberg 	Film
2021	The Sparks Brothers 	Arranger 	Edgar Wright 	Film
2023	Scott Pilgrim Takes Off 	Orchestrator 	Abel Góngora 	TV Series
===Discography===
Year	Title 	Artist / Composer 	Role 	UPC # 	Label
2006	The Color Purple 	Original Broadway Cast 	Music Assistant & Assistant Copyist 	0094634295420	Angel Records
2007	Curtains 	Original Broadway Cast 	Additional Orchestrator 	0094639221226	Broadway Angel
2007	The Little Mermaid 	Original Broadway Cast 	Additional Orchestrator 	0050087111816	Walt Disney Records
2008	Gypsy 	Patti LuPone 	Arranger, Orchestrator 	610583593129 	Time Life
2008	Shrek 	Original Broadway Cast 	Additional Orchestrator 	0602517970618	Decca Broadway Records
2008	Enchanted 	Original Soundtrack 	Proofreader, Assistant to the Orchestrator 	0050087507602	Walt Disney Records
2009	Over the Moon: Selections from “Sèance on a Wet Afternoon”	Stephen Schwartz 	Copyist, Assistant to the Orchestrators 	854474003087 	Over the Moon
2009	Did You Hear About the Morgans? 	“New York is Where I Live” (Single) Perf. by Steve Tyrell	Proofreader, Assistant to the Orchestrator 	SKU:9778556 	Sony Classical
2011	Heavenly Christmas 	Jackie Evancho 	Orchestrator 	0886979983823	Columbia Records
2011	Christmas 	Michael Bublè 	Copyist, Assistant to the Music Producer 	093624955405 	143 Records
2011	Aladdin 	Original Broadway Cast 	Additional Orchestrator 	0050087304058	Walt Disney Records
2011	Only Trust Your Heart 	Dionne Warwick 	Arranger, Orchestrator 	653738257323 	MPCA Records and RED Music
2012	Merry Christmas, Baby 	Rod Stewart, CeeLo Green 	Orchestrator, Assistant to the Music Producer	0602537103683	Verve Records
2012	Newsies 	Original Broadway Cast 	Additional Orchestrator 	791558445725 	Walt Disney Records
2012	Joss Stone: 
Soul Sessions Vol. 2 	Joss Stone 	Arranger, Orchestrator 	807315210229 	S-Curve Records
2013	Passione 	Andrea Bocelli, Jennifer Lopez 	Arranger, Orchestrator 	8033120983474	Universal, Verve, Decca,
2013	Passione: Super Deluxe (2-CD Set) 	Andrea Bocelli, Jennifer Lopez 	Arranger, Orchestrator 	602537266883 	Verve, Universal Latino, Decca
2013	A Mary Christmas 	Mary J. Blige 	Assistant to the Music Producer 	602537477012 	Matriarch,Verve Records
2013	Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters 	Atli Örvarsson 	Orchestrator 	0826924124123	La Land Records
2014	The Power of the Heart 	Vidjay Beerepoot 	Orchestrator 	724868056824 	Riva Media Records
2014	Triple Trouble 	Vidjay Beerepoot 	Conductor, Orchestrator 	8710675223766	Kinepolis
2014	Partners 	Barbara Streisand 	Assistant to Music Producers 	888430911420 	Columbia Records
2014	Tracks of My Years 	Bryan Adams 	Arranger, Orchestrator 	602537936205 	Polydor Records
2014	Love in Portofino 	Andrea Bocelli, Jennifer Lopez 	Arranger, Copyist 	602547308221 	Sugar Music, Universal Music
2015	The Legacy Collection: Disneyland (Disc 3) 	The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure (Medley) 	Orchestrator 	050087320119 	Walt Disney Records
2016	Comfort and Joy 	Jim Brickman 	Arranger 	728028395013 	Valley Records
2017	Brussel 	Vidjay Beerepoot 	Orchestrator 	– 	–
2017	The Little Vampire 	Vidjay Beerepoot 	Orchestrator 	– 	–
2019	The Last Word 	The O’Jays 	Arranger, Orchestrator 	4050538466461	S-Curve
2019	The Club of Ugly Children 	Vidjay Beerepoot 	Orchestrator 	– 	–
2019	The Debut 	Jackie Evancho 	Arranger, Orchestrator, Copyist 	748926782524 	JE Touring
2020	Diversion 	Vidjay Beerepoot 	Orchestrator 	– 	–
2021	OK Orchestra 	AJR 	Orchestrator 	4050538672589	BMG
2021	Out of Time 	Vidjay Beerepoot 	Orchestrator 	– 	–
2021	West Side Story 	Original Soundtrack 	Assistant to the Music Producers 	050087474621 	Hollywood Records
2023	Scott Pilgrim Takes Off 	Original Soundtrack 	Orchestrator 	780163647822 	Lakeshore Records
2023	The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte 	SPARKS 	Arranger, Orchestrator 	602455089779 	Island Records
==References==
==External links==
* Personal website
* 
* 
* 
* 
* Nathan Kelly on Facebook
* Nathan Kelly on IMDb
Category:1990 births
Category:American composers
Category:American music arrangers
Category:University of Southern California alumni
Category:People from Houston, Texas