Laura Anne Karpman is an American composer whose work has included music for film, television, video games, theater, and the concert hall. She has won five Emmy Awards for her work, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score. Karpman was trained at the Juilliard School, where she played jazz by day and performed in bars at night. Her scores include the television series Taken and The Living Edens, and the video game EverQuest II.
Early life and education Karpman was born in Los Angeles and grew up singing opera and jazz. Her mother, a painter and sculptor, wanted her to grow up to be a composer and surrounded Karpman with music even before she was born. Karpman began her first compositions at the age of 7.
She worked with John Harbison at the Tanglewood Music Center, and attended Aspen Music School and the Ecole des Arts Americaines. At the University of Michigan, she graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Music degree studying with William Bolcom and Leslie Bassett. She received both her Doctorate and Master's Degree in Music Composition at the Juilliard School, where her principal teacher was Milton Babbitt. At Juilliard, Karpman also received mentorship from Nadia Boulanger.
Career Compositions by Karpman have been commissioned by Tonya Pinkins, Los Angeles Opera, American Composers Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, the Juilliard Choral Union, Pacific Serenades, and percussionist Evelyn Glennie. They have been performed internationally. Karpman's theater catalog includes three musicals for Los Angeles's "A Noise Within" theater company, as well as underscores for dozens of classic plays. Among her media music credits are Steven Spielberg's Emmy-winning, 20-hour TV miniseries, Taken; and PBS's series The Living Edens (for which she received nine Emmy nominations). She has scored numerous films, television programs and video games (including music for supplemental Halo 3 materials and her award-winning score for EverQuest II).
She has held a residency at Sony Online Entertainment. Karpman received an Annie Award nomination for A Monkey's Tale, a short film commissioned by the Chinese government, which later premiered in the US and was performed by the Detroit Symphony.
Karpman's Grammy-winning Ask Your Mama premiered at Carnegie Hall on March 16, 2009, with performances by Jessye Norman, Cassandra Wilson, The Roots, and the Orchestra of St. Luke's conducted by George Manahan. With Langston Hughes's epic poem for a libretto, Karpman also took passages from Louis Armstrong, Big Maybelle, Pigmeat Markham and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, integrated with projected images by Rico Gatson and additional archival video, as well as Hughes's own poetry. Ask Your Mama was released by Avie Records in July 2016. Later, Karpman created "The 110 Project", an opera work commissioned by the L.A. Opera as a homage to the city's first freeway, I-110, as seen through four characters from 1940-2010, the lifespan of the freeway.
In 2014, Karpman co-founded the Alliance for Women Film Composers with Lolita Ritmanis and Miriam Cutler. The organization provides visibility and advocacy for women composers. In 2016, Karpman became the first woman elected to the music branch of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors.
Karpman composed the score for the Marvel Studios animated anthology series What If...? in 2021, the streaming series Ms. Marvel in 2022 and the score for the superhero film The Marvels in 2023. She composed the score for the 2023 film American Fiction, for which she received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score.
In 2026, Karpman composed the score for Give Me the Ball!, a documentary about the life and legacy of Billie Jean King.
Personal life
Karpman is married to composer Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum, a fellow Milton Babbitt student. They have one son and live in Playa del Rey, California, in a duplex with an ocean view and a built-in studio.
Karpman is known for a signature look: she wears two pairs of glasses, one pair on her face, and the other on her head. She has a self-described lifelong obsession for drama, including soap opera, classical operas, and plays.
Filmography
Films Year Title Director Studio(s) 1995 Lover's Knot Peter Shaner Legacy Releasing 1999 The Annihilation of Fish Charles Burnett 2009 The Tournament Scott Mann Entertainment Film Distributors 2010 Nothing Special Angela Garcia Combs 2011 Something Ventured Dayna GoldfineDaniel Geller 2013 Black Nativity Kasi Lemmons The Galapagos Affair Dayna GoldfineDaniel Geller 2014 States of Grace Helen CohenMark Lipman Regarding Susan Sontag Nancy Kates 2015 The State of Marriage Jeff Kaufman Code: Debugging the Gender Gap Robin Hauser 2016 Paris Can Wait Eleanor Coppola Lifetime FilmsAmerican Zoetrope The Cinema Travellers Shirley AbrahamAmit Madheshiya 2017 Step Amanda Lipitz Artemis Rising Foundation 2018 Phil's Camino: So Far, So Good Annie O'Neil Set It Up Claire Scanlon Treehouse Pictures Inventing Tomorrow Laura Nix Fishbowl FilmsHHMI Tangled Bank Studios 2019 Sid & Judy Stephen Kijak Passion Pictures 2020 Paper Children Alexandra Codina CineMia Love Is Love Is Love Eleanor Coppola American Zoetrope Senior Moment Giorgio Serafini Goff Productions 2021 Pray Away Kristine Stolakis Artemis Rising FoundationBlumhouse ProductionsChicken & Egg Pictures Resort to Love Steven Tsuchida AK WorldwideThe Malina Yarn CompanyStory Ink 2022 Epic Bill Quinnolyn Benson-Yates Red Wrap Productions 2023 The Marvels Nia DaCosta Marvel Studios American Fiction Cord Jefferson Orion PicturesMRC FilmT-Street Productions3 Arts Entertainment The Only Girl in the Orchestra Molly O'Brien LFR INDUSTRIES 2025 Captain America: Brave New World Julius Onah Marvel Studios 2026 Give Me the Ball! Liz GarbusElizabeth Wolff ESPN Films The Love Hypothesis Claire Scanlon MRCBisous PicturesThe Cantillon Company
Television YearTitleStudio(s)Notes1997–2003The Living EdensCBS Productions / BBC24 episodes2002TakenDreamWorks Television10 episodes Carrie Trilogy Entertainment GroupMGM Television Television film2002–2003Odyssey 5Columbia TriStar Domestic Television19 episodes2007–2022Craft in America18 episodes2016–2017UndergroundSony Pictures Television20 episodes2019L.A.'s FinestSony Pictures TelevisionJerry Bruckheimer Television13 episodes2019Why We HateAmblin Television6 episodesWon - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special2020Lovecraft CountryWarner Bros. Television StudiosMonkeypaw ProductionsBad Robot10 episodes2021–2024What If...?Marvel Studios Animation26 episodesCo-composed with Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum for seasons 2 and 32022From ScratchNetflix8 episodes202261st StreetAMC BBC Studios16 episodes2022Ms. MarvelMarvel Studios6 episodes2025–presentMarvel ZombiesMarvel Studios Animation4 episodesCo-composed with Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum2026East of EdenNetflix7 episodes
Video games YearTitle2004EverQuest II2005EverQuest II: The Splitpaw Saga2006EverQuest II: Kingdom of SkyField CommanderEverQuest II: The Fallen DynastyUntold Legends: Dark KingdomEverQuest: Prophecy of Ro2007EverQuest: The Buried Sea2011Kung Fu Panda 22012Guardians of Middle-earth2014Project Spark
Awards and nominations
Academy Awards 2024 nomination, "Best Original Score" for American Fiction
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 2015 Membership Induction
American Academy of Arts and Letters 1984 win, "Charles Ives Award"
Annie Awards 2007 nomination, "Best Music in an Animated Feature Production" for A Monkey's Tale
BMI Film & TV Awards 2003 win, "BMI Cable Mini-Series Award" for Taken
Game Audio Network Guild Awards 2004 win, "Best Arrangement of a Non-Original Score" for Everquest II 2004 nomination, "Best Music of the Year" for Everquest II
Hollywood Music in Media Awards 2023 nomination, "Best Original Score in a Feature Film" for American Fiction 2023 win, "Best Original Score in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film" for The Marvels
News & Documentary Emmy Awards 2008 nomination, "Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Music and Sound" for Craft in America 2003 nomination, "Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Music and Sound" for The Living Edens for "Big Sur: California's Wild Coast". Nomination shared with Nancy Severinsen, Clifford Hoelscher, Mark Linden, and Tara Paul. 2001 nomination, "Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft – Music" for The Living Edens episode "Kamchatka: Siberia's Forbidden Wilderness" 2000 nominations, "Outstanding Achievement in a Craft in News and Documentary Programming – Music" for The Living Edens episode "Costa Rica: Land of Pure Life" for The Living Edens episode "Palau: Paradise of the Pacific" 1999 win, "Outstanding Achievement in a Craft in News and Documentary Programming – Music" for The Living Edens episode "Madagascar: A World Apart" 1998 win, "Outstanding Achievement in a Craft in News and Documentary Programming – Music" for The Living Edens episodes "Denali: Alaska's Great Wilderness", "Manu: Peru's Hidden Rain Forest", "Patagonia: Life at the End of the Earth"
Primetime Emmy Awards 2024 nomination, "Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special (Original Dramatic Score)" for Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed 2023 nomination, "Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special (Original Dramatic Score)" for Ms. Marvel: Time and Again 2023 nomination, "Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music" for Ms. Marvel 2021 nomination, "Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score)" for Lovecraft Country: Rewind 1921 2020 win, "Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special (Original Dramatic Score)" for Why We Hate: Tools & Tactics 2020 nomination, "Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music" for Why We Hate 2008 nomination, "Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Original Dramatic Score)" for Masters of Science Fiction: Jerry Was a Man 2003 nomination, "Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score)" for Odyssey 5: Pilot
Satellite Awards 2024 win, Best Original Score, for American Fiction
Society of Composers & Lyricists Awards 2023 nomination, "Outstanding Original Score for a Studio Film" for American Fiction
References
Further reading Vivien Lejeune, "Laura Karpman Taken by Steven Spielberg", Cinefonia, No. 2, November 2003. Jeff Bond, "Taken With Her Music", Film Score Monthly, July 2003. Jon Burlingame, "Women in Showbiz: TV, Film Composer Not Confined to Any One Medium", Daily Variety, November 14, 2001. Jon Burlingame, "Women in Showbiz: Composers Curry Kudos", Daily Variety, November 8, 1999. "Fast Track—Composers Worth Listening to: Laura Karpman", The Hollywood Reporter, January 26, 1998. Michael Kamensky, "Spotlight: Laura Karpman", The Hollywood Reporter, January 26, 1995. Fred Karlin, On The Track: A Guide to Contemporary Film Scoring, 2nd edn, Routledge, 2004. "Composer Laura Karpman Receives 4 Emmy Nominations", Pro Sound News, 1998. Rudy Kopl, "Taken With Her Music", Film Score Monthly, June 1997. Jennifer Seidel, "Keeping Score", Electronic Musician, November 1995. Curt Schleier, "Composer Can't Help but Make Her Music Sound Jewish", The Jewish Transcript, June 25, 1999. Curt Schleier, "East of Eden", The Jewish Week, April 23, 1999. "Laura Karpman", The Advocate, May 2, 1995. K. Robert Schwartz, "A Woman of Independent Themes", Out, November 1995. David G. Taylor, "Duet for the Emmys", The Advocate, September 30, 2003.
By Laura Karpman: "An Interview with Milton Babbitt", Perspectives of New Music, vol. 24, no. 213, Spring–Summer 1986.
External links
Ask Your Mama UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television: Laura Karpman
Articles and interviews "Settling the Score" "Ode to Joystick" "Viewpoint"