Fernando Velázquez (composer)

Fernando Velázquez (born November 22, 1976) is a Spanish-born composer of concert and orchestral music, as well as that for film and television. Velázquez may be best known for his World Soundtrack-nominated score for The Orphanage.

Life and career
Fernando’s experience as an accomplished cello player in various orchestras and his training in conservatories as “Jesus Guridi” from Vitoria and composition studies in the RCSM Madrid and Paris are the foundations of his talent. Fernando Velázquez already had experience in the world of cinema, and especially in the terror genre, having composed movies like Devil (written & produced by M. Night Shyamalan) and the Guillermo del Toro produced feature The Orphanage. His other credits include The Backwoods starring Gary Oldman and Savage Grace starring Julianne Moore. In 2010 he was selected to create symphonic works for the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra. He was one of eleven selected composers. Also in 2010, Film Music Magazine rated his score to 'Devil' as one of the best scores of the year, quoting "Velazquez’s brassily orchestral ambitions pay more of a blood oath to Bernard Herrmann and James Newton Howard, with the kind of churning, melodically rich symphonic sound that makes DEVIL’s mostly elevator-bound setting anything but claustrophobic" In 2012, Film Music Magazine ranked his score to 'The Impossible' as one of the Top 10 scores of the year.

He composed the music for the film Mama (2013), produced by Guillermo del Toro. He also composed the full soundtrack to the award-winning total conversion modification The Last Days of the Third Age for Mount & Blade.

World Soundtrack Awards

 * 2008: The Orphanage (nomination)

International Film Music Critics Association Awards

 * 2012: The Impossible (win, Film Music Composition of the Year, for "Main Titles")
 * 2012: The Impossible (nomination, Film Score of the Year)
 * 2012: Film Composer of the Year (nomination)
 * 2012: The Impossible (nomination, Best Drama Score)
 * 2009: Garbo: The Spy (nomination, Best Documentary Score)
 * 2007: Best New Composer of the Year (nomination)
 * 2007: The Orphanage (nomination, Best Horror/Thriller Score)

Barcelona Film Awards

 * 2007: The Orphanage (nomination)

Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain

 * 2011: Lope (nomination)
 * 2008: The Orphanage (win)

European Film Awards

 * 2008: The Orphanage (nomination)

Goya Awards

 * 2008: The Orphanage (nomination)
 * 2013: The Impossible (nomination)

Spanish Music Awards

 * 2008: The Orphanage (win)