STEVE TIRPAK

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"Put me in the room and good things happen."

Steve Tirpak is a composer and orchestrator whose work is woven into records you've heard — and shows you've seen. Over 130 major-label credits, many in collaboration with Grammy-winning arranger and producer Larry Gold, spanning pop, R&B, hip-hop, gospel, and orchestral music. From Silk Sonic to Michael Jackson's XSCAPE, from John Legend to Bruno Mars to Tate McRae — the job has always been the same: serve the song, elevate the vision, and disappear into the music so seamlessly it feels like it was always there.

That instinct didn't come from a textbook. Early in his career, Steve toured as a trombonist and trumpeter with John Legend — night after night learning how arrangements actually live in real space. How they pull focus toward the vocal when the song needs it. How they open up around the lyric instead of competing with it. That experience shapes everything he writes now, whether it's a string arrangement built around a single vocal performance or the orchestral arc of an entire live show.

The work has reached the stages it was meant for — writing for Jay-Z at Carnegie Hall, modernizing the Academy Awards closing theme for the 2022 ceremony by weaving in contemporary movie themes for the first time in decades, and most recently scoring the live orchestration for Bruno Mars's The Romantic Tour. Whether the canvas is strings, brass, or a full orchestral palette, it's always about dimension, gravity, and soul. Parts that earn their place. Music that honors the artist's identity while taking the song to its highest possible level.

Steve works with two delivery models depending on budget and timeline. For projects with the resources to bring musicians into the room, he contracts and conducts live sessions with world-class players. For productions that need cinematic orchestration at a faster pace, he delivers fully written arrangements brought to life with today's most realistic orchestral sounds — indistinguishable from live in the mix, and built with the same compositional care either way.

If you're working on something that needs strings, brass, or full orchestral treatment — and you want an arranger who's done it at the highest level — reach out directly. Let's talk about what the song needs.

Explore a selection from the discography below.