Biography:
written by Rogers Turrentine

Larry Groupé is one of the most talented and versatile composers working today in the entertainment industry. With an impressive musical résumé in film and television as well as the concert stage, his achievements have received both critical praise and popular acclaim.

Larry has just completed a feature comedy for Mike Binder, Man About Town, starring Ben Affleck, Rebecca Romijn, Gina Gershon, John Cleese and Damien Wayans. Up next is Rod Lurie's new dramatic series for ABC, Commander in Chief, starring Geena Davis and Donald Sutherland.

Most notably, he wrote the score for The Contender starring Joan Allen, Gary Oldman and Jeff Bridges, a highly regarded political drama written and directed by Rod Lurie, which received multiple Academy Award nominations. Larry also enjoyed special recognition for his score of Lurie's earlier release, Deterrence, a doomsday thriller starring Kevin Pollack and Timothy Hutton. Keeping it "in the family," Larry scored a short film, In the Morning, for Rod's sister, Danielle. The film has won awards at many festivals including Sundance and plans are underway to expand it into a feature.

In 2004 Larry was nominated for a primetime Emmy as composer of best original score for ABC’s drama series, Line of Fire. He also wrote the music for Mike Binder's comedy series, The Mind of the Married Man, on HBO. Concurrently, Larry teamed with the Classic Rock legends, Yes, co-composing ten original songs on the new CD release, Magnification, as well as writing overtures, arrangements and conducting the orchestra on their Symphonic Tour of the World 2001-2002.

Prior to this, a project based on Ed Wood's last script, I Woke Up Early the Day I Died, provided him with a unique opportunity to write a most unusual score for a silent movie produced by and starring Billy Zane. Last August Larry recorded his original score for the docudrama, Missions, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios. The series is to be launched in Europe in the spring of 2005.

Larry has an Emmy award to his credit for best documentary score, Jonas Salk: Personally Speaking. He's also composed the music for a variety of features that have shown at the Sundance, Berlin and Toronto International Festivals.

A graduate of the Conservatory of Music at the University of the Pacific, he began his senior year as the recipient of the ASCAP award for student composers. He went on to earn his Masters of Music in Composition at the University of California at San Diego where he studied with Roger Reynolds, Toru Takemitsu and Pauline Oliveros. Subsequently, his composing, orchestrating and conducting skills took him to the world of film scoring where he won the New York Film Award for "Best Score.”

Larry has also composed, conducted and produced over eighty CD recordings. His music has been performed by a number of symphony orchestras and his recent composition, Water Unfolding, a fantasy for orchestra commissioned by the San Diego Symphony, has been warmly received by the public as well as obtaining excellent critical reviews. Menagerie, a suite for solo organ, was recently commissioned by the Spreckels Organ Society for its 85th birthday and performed at the world’s largest outdoor Organ Pavilion in San Diego's Balboa Park.

The Contender

"The film challenges Groupé to create 13 meaningful compositions, and the soundtrack reveals the staggering fruits of this effort: elegiac, moving Americana that reveals Groupé to be a musical chameleon, constantly changing his style while still remaining at the top of his form."
— The ScoreSheet

"How sweet and moving it is! This is not a typical, stale score for a political film—this is music that captures the nobility of a leader. Groupé is a maestro who seems to capture all the right notes in his work."
— Soundtrackstation.com

"Groupé's score is noble, patriotic, and full of integrity, but never flashy...highlighted by a number of superb instrumental renditions in various cues."
— Movie Music U.K.

Deterrence

"Groupé is one of the newest (and one of the most talented) composers in the film world..."
— The ScoreSheet

"This is a beautiful, invigorating score..."
— Cinemusic

"An orchestral epic, bristling with tense, exciting cues and lots of smooth, intelligent dissonance..."
— Movie Music U.K.

I Woke Up Early the Day I Died

"Being a silent movie, Groupé's music as heard in the film is much more..."
— Movie Music U.K.