At noon EST today, the International Film Music Critics Association (of which I am a member) announced its list of nominees for excellence in musical scoring in 2012.  Leading the pack this year is not one but rather four composers – Mychael Danna, Alexandre Desplat, Fernando Velázquez and John Williams – with four nominations each.  These four composers, along with Danny Elfman, are nominated for Film Composer of the Year as well as for their individual scores.

The nominees for Film Score of the Year are: Cloud Atlas, music by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil; The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, music by Howard Shore; The Impossible, music by Fernando Velázquez; Life of Pi, music by Mychael Danna; and Lincoln, music by John Williams.  While I have my personal favourites, all are strong contenders to take home the award in this category.

Worth a mention is Dan Romer & Benh Zeitlin’s nomination for Breakout Composer of the Year.  While their wonderful score for Beasts of the Southern Wild unfortunately didn’t get any nominations in such a tight and strong field of nominees, I am glad to see them recognized in this category at least.  BotSW is their first feature film score and I look forward to hearing more from them.

In the next little while, I will be writing up and profiling some of the nominated scores, as well as those nominated for the Academy Awards so keep an eye out for that.

Nominations in all categories (including Best Original Score for Animated Feature, and Film Music Composition of the Year) can be found after the jump.

For more, read the official press release at the IFMCA’s official website here.

– Erin V.

2012 Film Categories

FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR

Cloud Atlas, music by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, music by Howard Shore

The Impossible, music by Fernando Velázquez

Life of Pi, music by Mychael Danna

Lincoln, music by John Williams

FILM COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

Mychael Danna

Alexandre Desplat

Danny Elfman

Fernando Velázquez

John Williams

BREAKOUT COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

Nathan Johnson

Zeltia Montes

Nic Raine

Dan Romer & Benh Zeitlin

Joseph Trapanese

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DRAMA FILM

Anna Karenina, music by Dario Marianelli

The Impossible, music by Fernando Velázquez

Life of Pi, music by Mychael Danna

Lincoln, music by John Williams

There Be Dragons – Secretos de Pasión, music by Robert Folk

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A COMEDY FILM

Moonrise Kingdom, music by Alexandre Desplat

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, music by Dario Marianelli

The Sessions, music by Marco Beltrami

Silver Linings Playbook, music by Danny Elfman

Ted, music by Walter Murphy

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER FILM

The Amazing Spider-Man, music by James Horner

Dans La Maison, music by Philippe Rombi

The Dark Knight Rises, music by Hans Zimmer

Skyfall, music by Thomas Newman

Zero Dark Thirty, music by Alexandre Desplat

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION/HORROR FILM

Cloud Atlas, music by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, music by Howard Shore

John Carter, music by Michael Giacchino

Prometheus, music by Marc Streitenfeld, additional music by Harry Gregson-Williams

Sinister, music by Christopher Young

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ANIMATED FEATURE

Brave, music by Patrick Doyle

Frankenweenie, music by Danny Elfman

ParaNorman, music by Jon Brion

Rise of the Guardians, music by Alexandre Desplat

Secret of the Wings, music by Joel McNeely

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Kingdom of Plants, music by Joel Douek, Freddy Sheinfeld and Elik Alvarez

Los Mundos Sutiles, music by Pascal Gaigne

Metsän Tarina, music by Panu Aaltio

Samsara, music by Lisa Gerrard and Michael Stearns

Shakespeare & Us, music by Miguel d’Oliveira

FILM MUSIC COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR

“The Cloud Atlas Sextet for Orchestra” from Cloud Atlas, music by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil

“The Impossible Main Title” from The Impossible, music by Fernando Velázquez

“John Carter of Mars” from John Carter, music by Michael Giacchino

“Pi’s Lullaby” from Life of Pi, music by Mychael Danna and Bombay Jayashri

“The Peterson House and Finale” from Lincoln, music by John Williams

Other 2012 Categories

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A TELEVISION SERIES

Doctor Who, music by Murray Gold

Downton Abbey, music by John Lunn

Green Lantern: The Animated Series, music by Frederik Wiedmann

Isabel, music by Federico Jusid

Priceless, music by Naoki Sato

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A VIDEO GAME OR INTERACTIVE MEDIA

Journey, music by Austin Wintory

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, music by Grant Kirkhope

Resistance: Burning Skies, music by Jason Graves and Kevin Riepl

Starhawk, music by Christopher Lennertz

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, music by Russell Brower, Neal Acree, Sam Cardon, Edo Guidotti and Jeremy Soule

BEST ARCHIVAL RELEASE OF AN EXISTING SCORE

Ben-Hur, music by Miklós Rózsa; album produced by Lukas Kendall, Mike Matessino and Neil S. Bulk; liner notes by Jeff Bond and Frank K. DeWald; album art direction by Joe Sikoryak (Film Score Monthly)

Conan The Barbarian, music by Basil Poledouris; album produced by Nick Redman and Douglass Fake; liner notes by Nick Redman; album art direction by Joe Sikoryak (Intrada)

Hook, music by John Williams; album produced by Didier C. Deutsch, Mark G. Wilder, MV Gerhard and Matt Verboys; liner notes by Daniel Schweiger; album art direction by Jim Titus (La-La Land)

Star Trek: The Motion Picture, music by Jerry Goldsmith; album produced by Didier C. Deutsch, Mike Matessino, Bruce Botnick, MV Gerhard, Matt Verboys and David C. Fein; liner notes by Jeff Bond and Mike Matessino; album art direction by Jim Titus (La-La Land)

Star Trek: The Original Series, music by Alexander Courage, George Duning, Jerry Fielding, Gerald Fried, Sol Kaplan, Samuel Matlovsky, Joseph Mullendore and Fred Steiner; album produced by Lukas Kendall, Neil S. Bulk, Jeff Bond, MV Gerhard, and Matt Verboys; liner notes by Jeff Bond; album art direction by Joe Sikoryak (La-La Land)

BEST ARCHIVAL RE-RECORDING OF AN EXISTING SCORE

The Adventures of Don Juan/Arsenic and Old Lace, music by Max Steiner; conducted by William Stromberg; album produced by William Stromberg, John Morgan and Anna Bonn; liner notes by James V. d’Arc, Ryan Brennan and Curt Hardaway; album art direction by Jim Titus (Tribute Film Classics)

Notre Dame de Paris – The Music of Maurice Jarre, music by Maurice Jarre; conducted by Nic Raine; album produced by James Fitzpatrick; liner notes by James Fitzpatrick and Frank K. DeWald; album art direction by Damien Doherty (Tadlow)

Quo Vadis?, music by Miklós Rózsa; conducted by Nic Raine; album produced by James Fitzpatrick and Luc Van de Ven; liner notes by Frank K. DeWald; album art direction by GINKO DIGI (Prometheus/Tadlow)

The Red House, music by Miklós Rózsa; conducted by Allan Wilson; album produced by Kevin Kaska and Douglass Fake; liner notes by Dan Robbins and Frank K. DeWald; album art direction by Joe Sikoryak (Intrada)

Wings, music by J.S. Zamecnik; conducted by Peter Boyer and Ira Hearshen; album produced by Dominik Hauser, Jeannie Gayle Pool, Dan Goldwasser, MV Gerhard and Matt Verboys; liner notes by Jeannie Gayle Pool; album art direction by Dan Goldwasser (La-La Land)

FILM MUSIC RECORD LABEL OF THE YEAR

Intrada Records, Douglass Fake, Roger Feigelson

La-La Land Records, MV Gerhard, Matt Verboys, Neil S. Bulk, Dan Goldwasser

Moviescore Media, Mikael Carlsson

Quartet Records, Jose M. Benitez

Tadlow Music, James Fitzpatrick