Edward Shearmur

In a career spanning over two decades, Edward Shearmur has time and again demonstrated  his ability to fuse contemporary recording techniques and styles with the most sophisticated of compositional approaches. Combining a remarkable sense of  melody with a great ear for rhythm and texture, his work can be found in a multitude of genres. Shearmur’s breakout score for Iain Softley’s  The Wings Of The Dove prompted  New York Times critic Stephen Holden to call it “one of the most hauntingly melancholy film scores ever written.”  His dark and textural score for Ben Stiller’s Escape At Dannemora was nominated for an Emmy in 2019, while his divergent styles can be heard in his propulsive music for the documentary series Man In The Arena and the gorgeous, wistful string writing for Paula Ortiz’ Across The River And Into The Trees.

Shearmur began his career  in London working alongside with the legendary Michael Kamen. His time in the UK also found him much in demand as a keyboardist and arranger, collaborating with such artists as Annie Lennox, Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd,  Kirsty MacColl, electronic pioneers Coldcut, Gary Kemp and many others. In the mid nineties, he began a three year collaboration with Led Zeppelin legends Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, acting as keyboard player and music director for their epic No Quarter tour.

Shearmur’s move to Los Angeles saw him use his studio skills in pop classics such as Cruel Intentions and The Charlie’s Angels movies, while his mastery of epic orchestral writing could be heard in such films The Count Of Monte Cristo, Sky Captain and The World Of Tomorrow, and the massive, terrifying Reign Of Fire.

His hybrid scores for films such as K-PAX, Abduction, and The Skeleton Key all relied heavily on sonic manipulation combined with textural orchestral writing while his score for Justin Theroux’s Dedication, saw him collaborating with Alt-Rock darlings Deerhoof.

Shearmur’s work in comedies began with the hip-hop inflected Blue Streak, and continued with the twin successes with Miss Congeniality and Johnny English, and romantic comedies such as Bride Wars, Laws Of Attraction and Jumping The Broom. In 2014 he worked with the legendary Peter Bogdanovich on his final film, She’s Funny That Way.

Shearmur has also shown great flair with family material, especially in The Diary Of A Wimpy Kid movies, Richard Linklater’s remake of The Bad News Bears, College Road Trip and the zany Furry Vengeance.

An important part of Shearmur’s output has been his work on smaller  independent dramas. His collaborations with the esteemed writer/director Rodrigo Garcia began with the chamber score he wrote for Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her, and spans  thoughtful and heartfelt scores for films such as Nine Lives, Passengers, Mother And Child and Four Good Days.

Shearmur’s television work has been equally expansive. He won an Emmy for his theme for the series Masters Of Horror, and worked for 4 seasons on Marc Cherry’s Devious Maids.

Shearmur has written much concert music, most recently completing the large scale orchestral work In Blackwater Woods, due to be recorded in the Fall of 2023.