Skip to main content

Search NYU Steinhardt

JOHN KAEFER is a composer for film, television, and media. A trusted collaborator, he is known for his distinctive musical voice and nuanced, imaginative scores. His work ranges from artful electronic soundscapes to bold, propulsive orchestral music. A doctoral graduate of The Juilliard School, he embraces all aspects of the creative process and relishes crafting a score from the script to final mix. 

Feature films include A SCORE TO SETTLE starring Nic Cage and ONLY starring Leslie Odom Jr./Freida Pinto. Of the score for ONLY, Film Music Magazine wrote "in a world increasingly in need of tenderness as it deals with growing madness, the elegiac quality of ONLY strikes a powerfully tragic, yet entrancingly melodic chord." Additional recent films include HOW TO BE ALONE starring Maika Monroe/Joe Kerry, PARTY BOAT starring Jay Mohr/Sung Kang (Sony Pictures), MEATS starring Ashley Williams, and the documentary COURAGE RISING

Active in television, John teamed up with composer Cliff Martinez on THE WILDS (Amazon). Other projects include the drama series SEQUESTERED (Sony Pictures Television/Crackle), SPIRIT & SOUL (Nat Geo doc), the Emmy Award winning docuseries COULD YOU SURVIVE THE MOVIES (Ample/YouTube Originals), as well as the Main Theme and Thematic Music packages for ABC's flagship programs GOOD MORNING AMERICA and 20/20, and the ABC primetime hit show WOULD YOU FALL FOR THAT. Additionally he scored the Wolf Entertainment produced fiction podcast series DARK WOODS starring Corey Stoll/Monica Raymund and contributed additional music to the mega hit docuseries SHINY HAPPY PEOPLE (Amazon).

Working in interactive media, John scored the live-action series QUANTUM BREAK (Microsoft Studios/Remedy), developed exclusively for Xbox One. Hailed as a "masterpiece" by Gaming Trend, the revolutionary game blurs the line between episodic television and cinematic gameplay, integrating the two into one seamless, uniquely immersive experience. John also recently worked with Netflix and Formosa Interactive on the game series NETFLIX STORIES, letting viewers experience the worlds and characters from hit Netflix films and series. 

As a composer of contemporary classical music, John's work is performed worldwide by leading musicians and ensembles at prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, The Montalbán Theatre in Los Angeles, Wigmore Hall in London, and La Schola Cantorum in Paris. John has received awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, BMI, ASCAP, and the Barlow Endowment, among others. He serves on the Board of Advisors for Composers Now and is Director of the BMI Foundation Pete Carpenter Fellowship.

In addition to a Doctor Of Musical Arts degree from The Juilliard School (C.V. Starr Fellow), John also earned degrees in music composition from Yale University (MM) and the Eastman School of Music (BM). He is currently on the Screen Scoring faculty at New York University. 

John is represented by Soundtrack Music Associates.

Email: : info@johnkaefer.com
Representation: Soundtrack Music Associates

Music Reel: https://play.reelcrafter.com/JohnKaefer/Music

 

Programs

Screen Scoring

Learn to write music for today’s media industry through rigorous course work, collaborations with schools throughout NYU, and recording opportunities.

Read More