Rob Simonsen

Rob Simonsen (born March 11, 1978) is an American composer and conductor. He is best known for his scores in films such as 500 Days of Summer (2009), The Age of Adaline (2015), Gifted (2017), The Only Living Boy in New York (2017), Tully (2018), Love, Simon (2018), The Front Runner (2018), The Way Back (2020), Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), The Adam Project (2022), The Whale (2022), Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), and It Ends with Us (2024), and the television series Life in Pieces (2015–2019). He also collaborates with the directors Marc Webb, Jason Reitman and Shawn Levy.

Rob Simonsen
Born	(1978-03-11) March 11, 1978 (age 47) St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Genres	Film score jazz electronic
Occupations	Film composer conductor
Instruments	Keyboards piano
Website	robsimonsen.com

Early life

Simonsen began playing the piano by ear at an early age. His grandmother was a voice teacher and music was around him in his family home. He later studied music at Southern Oregon University, the University of Oregon and Portland State University.^[1]

Career

Rob's first break into film composing was the independent feature Westender in 2003. In 2004 he teamed up with composer Mychael Danna and has provided additional music and arrangements on Surf's Up, Fracture, Moneyball, and the Oscar-winning Life of Pi. Simonsen and Danna co-wrote the score of (500) Days of Summer, and Joss Whedon's television series Dollhouse. Simonsen's work includes the Sundance Film Festival features The Way, Way Back and The Spectacular Now;^[2] The Age of Adaline; and most recently Love, Simon, The Way Back, and Stargirl.

In 2009 he opened his own studio, and The Hollywood Reporter named him one of the "15 Composers Primed to Take Their Place on the A List."^[3]

Simonsen's music can be heard in nearly all iPhone 5 ads, and he appears in them as the conductor.^{[citation needed]} "Red", one of his tracks for iPhone 5, has gained wide recognition. His music was featured in Coca-Cola's 2018 Super Bowl TV spot, "The Wonder of Us".^[4]

On September 6, 2019, Simonsen released his first solo album, Rêveries, on Sony Masterworks.^[5][6]

Awards

• World Soundtrack Award (nomination): Discovery of the Year for The Spectacular Now, The Way, Way Back (2013)^[7]
• International Film Music Critics Award (nomination): Best Original Score for an Action/Adventure/Thriller Film for Nerve (2016)^[8]
• Hollywood Music in Media Award (nomination): Best Original Score in an Independent Film for The Whale (2022)^[9]
• Indiana Film Journalists Award (nomination): Best Musical Score for The Whale (2022)^[10]

Filmography

Films

• Westender (2003)
• Two Fisted (2004)
• Eve and the Fire Horse (2005)
• Lonely Hearts (2006) additional music
• Surf's Up (2007) additional music
• Stone of Destiny (2008) additional music
• Management (2008) co-composed with Mychael Danna
• The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) additional music
• (500) Days of Summer (2009) co-composed with Mychael Danna
• All Good Things (2010)
• The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best (2011)
• Moneyball (2011) additional music
• The English Teacher (2012)
• LOL (2012)
• The Final Member (2012) Documentary
• Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012), composed with Jonathan Sadoff
• Girl Most Likely (2012)
• Life of Pi (2012) additional music
• The Spectacular Now (2013)
• The Way, Way Back (2013)
• Wish I Was Here (2014)
• Chu and Blossom (2014)
• Foxcatcher (2014) (additional music by Mychael Danna and West Dylan Thordson)
• The Age of Adaline (2015) (additional music by Duncan Blickenstaff)
• Burnt (2015)
• Stonewall (2015)
• Nerve (2016)
• Viral (2016)
• Miss Stevens (2016)
• Two Is a Family (2016)
• Going in Style (2017)
• Gifted (2017) (additional music by Duncan Blickenstaff)
• The House of Tomorrow (2017)
• The Only Living Boy in New York (2017) (additional music by Duncan Blickenstaff)
• The Upside (2017)
• Father Figures (2017)
• Tully (2018)
• Love, Simon (2018)
• The Front Runner (2018)
• Captive State (2019)
• Fast Color (2019)
• Our Friend (2019)
• The Way Back (2020)
• Stargirl (2020)
• Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
• The Adam Project (2022)
• Hollywood Stargirl (2022) (composed with Duncan Blickenstaff)
• The Whale (2022)
• Good Grief (2023)
• Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
• It Ends with Us (2024) (composed with Duncan Blickenstaff)
• Elio (2025)

Television

• Dollhouse (series) (2009–2010)
• Battleground (series) (2012)
• Blue Bloods (series) (2010–2013)
• Life in Pieces (series) (2015–2017)
• Stranger Things (series) (2022)

Discography

Studio albums

• Rêveries (2019)