Kelli Scarr

Kelli Scarr is a twice Emmy-nominated composer, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist based in New York, known for her emotive, organic approach to film scoring. Born into a musical family in Northern California, her passion for music ignited early—singing alongside her grandmother before she could walk. By age 16, she was already performing at major international festivals including Montreux, North Sea, and Monterey Jazz Festivals. After earning a scholarship for jazz performance at Berklee College of Music, she relocated to New York City and began her career in film scoring in 2004.

With a portfolio spanning dozens of films, television projects, and commercials, Kelli has developed a distinctive sound rooted in live musicianship, improvisation, and deep emotional attunement to story. Her work stands apart in a digital-heavy landscape, favoring human performance and textural nuance to create scores that feel intimate, immersive, and alive. Her score for the HBO documentary In A Dream earned her an Emmy nomination in 2008, and her work as both composer and music supervisor on documentaries including Advanced Style (2014) and Far Western (2016) further showcased her range and sensitivity as a storyteller.

Most recently, Kelli completed the score for the feature film After All (2025), starring Penelope Ann Miller and Erika Christensen. Kelli’s commercial releases are also an integral contribution to After All’s soundtrack with six songs complimenting the sonic palette of her original score.

Beyond film, Kelli has collaborated with a wide range of artists, including a long-standing partnership recording and touring with Moby, and has released four solo albums. Her latest large-scale work, Greater Mysteries (released June 2025), marks an evolution of her compositional voice beyond the screen. Conceived as a mythic, immersive song cycle inspired by ancient initiation rites, Greater Mysteries functions much like an extended narrative score—unfolding across seasonal programs, site-specific performances, and conversations inspired by the sacred rhythms of life, death, and rebirth. Drawing on the same instincts that guide her work in film, Kelli uses music to shape emotional pacing, deepen meaning, and carry audiences through a shared, immersive experience of transformation.

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