The subtle nuances of composer Marcelo Zarvos’ style are exemplified in his recent scores for Netflix’s critically acclaimed The Diplomat, May December directed by Todd Haynes, and Amazon’s Cassandro. Zarvos’ musical training began by studying classical music followed by exploring jazz, rock and world music. This expansion inspired Zarvos to create his trademark sound – a seamless blend of classical, orchestral, rock, electronic and various ethnic elements, including his Brazilian roots which fueled emotionally charged music for film, TV, and the concert stage.

Zarvos began his music studies at CalArts. At this institution, he expanded his knowledge of classical piano studies with jazz and world music. In addition to music, Cal Arts was an opportunity for Zarvos to grow his artistic background with non-music departments including dance, art history, and film. He burst onto the film landscape in the early 2000s with his score for Kissing Jessica Stein and film adaptation of the John Irving novel, The Door in the Floor. Zarvos’ credits include The Good Shepherd, The Words, Brooklyn’s Finest, The Face of Love, Reaching for the Moon, Sin Nombre, Hollywoodland, Adult Beginners, The Humbling, Little Accidents, American Ultra and Enough Said.

With his layered motifs and emotive undertones, Zarvos became the go-to composer for filmmakers including Todd Haynes (May December, Dark Waters, Anatomy of a Scene), Antoine Fuqua (The Equalizer 3, The Guilty, Emancipation) Nicole Holofcener (Enough Said, Please Give, One Mississippi), Tod Williams (The Door in the Floor), Ross Katz (The Choice), Cary Fukunaga (Sin Nombre) and Barry Levinson (The Humbling, You Don’t Know Jack, Rock the Kasbah).

Marcelo Zarvos’ recent projects include A24’s The Front Room directed by Max and Sam Eggers, director Antoine Fuqua’s The Equalizer 3 starring Denzel Washington, Colombia Pictures’ Big George Foreman, and Eva Longoria’s directorial debut Flamin’ Hot. Zarvos’ upcoming projects include the TV series Good American Family on Hulu releasing Spring 2025, Netflix’s Nonnas starring Vince Vaughn, and the feature Spacewoman which premiered fall 2024 at DOC NYC.

Zarvos’ television scores have received accolades. He was twice Emmy® nominated for You Don’t Know Jack and Taking Chance. His other television credits include American Gigolo, The Day Sports Stood Still, Too Big to Fail,  the HBO movie Phil Spector, the Amazon series One Mississippi, Z: The Beginning Of Everything, and the limited series The Romanoffs for Amazon.