Bear McCreary

Bear McCreary is an American orchestral score composer from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, born in 1979. He works across film, television and video game music, and is also associated with Bt4 and The Battlestar Galactica Orchestra. His releases appear on Sparks & Shadows and Bear McCreary Music.

Early life and training

McCreary is raised in Bellingham, Washington. He graduates from Bellingham High School in 1997. He is a classically trained pianist and a self-taught accordionist. He studies under film composer Elmer Bernstein and, during that time, reconstructs and reorchestrates Bernstein's 1963 score for Kings of the Sun. That collaboration leads to the complete score being released as a soundtrack album for the first time in four decades.

He is the son of author Laura Kalpakian and University of Hawaii at Manoa professor Jay McCreary. His brother, Brendan McCreary, is also a musician, and Bear McCreary directs and produces several music videos for Brendan's band, Young Beautiful in a Hurry.

Television work

McCreary becomes widely known for his work on Battlestar Galactica. In 2003, he works with composer Richard Gibbs on the miniseries that serves as a pilot for the reimagined series. When the show is commissioned, Gibbs steps away from full-time involvement and McCreary becomes the primary composer. He scores more than 70 episodes between 2004 and 2009. Several soundtrack albums from the series are later released. He also composes music for the prequel series Caprica and Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome.

He scores Human Target, based on the DC Comics character, using orchestral recordings and a large ensemble for the season one finale episode "Christopher Chance". In 2010, he receives his first Emmy nomination for the series' main title music, and later that year he says he will not return for the second season after changes in the show's creative leadership.

McCreary also composes the opening title music for Black Sails, which draws on sea shanties and includes the hurdy-gurdy. He scores all seasons of Outlander; the main title theme is performed by Raya Yarbrough, a long-time collaborator and later his wife. His television credits also include The Walking Dead, The Cape, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Snowpiercer, Masters of the Universe: Revelation, Foundation and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

His awards and nominations include a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for the first season of Outlander in 2015, an Emmy for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music for Da Vinci's Demons, two Children's and Family Emmy Awards for Percy Jackson and the Olympians, British Academy Games Awards and D.I.C.E. Awards for God of War and God of War Ragnarök, and several Grammy nominations.

Film work

Before becoming established as a film composer, McCreary contributes additional music and conducting to films including My Baby's Daddy and Johnson Family Vacation. He then composes scores for the direct-to-video films Rest Stop and Wrong Turn 2: Dead End. His theatrical film debut as a primary composer is Step Up 3D.

He collaborates with director Joe Lynch on Chillerama, Knights of Badassdom and Everly; the soundtrack for Everly includes a duet performed by McCreary and Raya Yarbrough. He also works repeatedly with Christopher Landon on Happy Death Day, Happy Death Day 2U and Freaky, and with McG on Rim of the World and The Babysitter: Killer Queen. Other film scores include Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie, 10 Cloverfield Lane, The Cloverfield Paradox, Child's Play, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Ava and Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank. In 2023, he replaces Thomas Newman as composer for The Last Voyage of the Demeter, directed by André Øvredal.

Video games and other projects

In video games, McCreary creates an eight-bit version of the theme for Dark Void, later used in the prequel Dark Void Zero. He composes it using modified Nintendo Entertainment System hardware to reproduce an authentic retro sound. He also arranges "You're a Mean One, Mr. Nerd" for an Angry Video Game Nerd Christmas special.

He performs with an orchestra during Sony's E3 2016 press conference and composes the score for God of War in 2018, introducing Norse mythology to the series. He returns for God of War Ragnarök and its expansion Valhalla, appears in the game as the dwarf Raeb, and later returns for God of War Sons of Sparta, which revisits the franchise's Greek mythology and uses Greek folk instruments alongside chiptune influences. He also composes Call of Duty: Vanguard.

In 2024, McCreary announces the concept album The Singularity, co-written and co-produced with Brendan McCreary. The album features contributions from Rufus Wainwright, Slash, Serj Tankian, Corey Taylor, Joe Satriani, Scott Ian, Billy Boyd and others. It is accompanied by a graphic novel published by Image Comics and Black Market Narrative, with spoken-word performances by Lee Pace, Danai Gurira and Ryan Hurst.

His musical Particle Fever is scheduled to debut at La Jolla Playhouse and includes a book by David Henry Hwang, with music and lyrics co-written with Zoe Sarnak.