David Vanacore is an American television music

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. Dubbed by television music industry insiders as 'The King of

Reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of everything in existence; everything that is not imagination, imaginary. Different Culture, cultures and Academic discipline, academic disciplines conceptualize it in various ways. Philosophical questions abo ...

', David Vanacore is the composer behind many

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

series, such as ''

Survivor Survivor(s) may refer to: * one who survives Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 KKnD series#Armies, ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Foundation'', a fictional ...

'', ''

The Apprentice An apprentice is someone who is in training for a trade, profession. The Apprentice or Apprentice may also refer to: Television * ''The Apprentice'' (American TV series), the original reality television series * ''The Apprentice'' (franchise), ...

'', '' Big Brother'', ''

Ink Master ''Ink Master'' is an American reality competition television series that premiered on Paramount Network (formerly called Spike) on January 17, 2012. Each season features tattoo artists who compete in various challenges assessing their tattooing ...

'', ''

American Chopper ''American Chopper'' is an American reality television series that airs on Discovery Channel, produced by Pilgrim Films & Television. The series centers on Paul Teutul Sr. (frequently called ''Senior''), and his son Paul Teutul Jr. (also know ...

'', ''

Dirty Jobs ''Dirty Jobs'' is an American television series that originally aired on the Discovery Channel in which host Mike Rowe is shown performing difficult, strange, disgusting, or messy occupational duties alongside the job's current employees. The sho ...

'', ''

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, or Midtown West on real estate listings, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, ...

'', '' Wipeout'', ''

Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader ''Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?'' is a game show franchise that was co-created and produced by Mark Burnett, Barry Poznick and John Stevens. Adult contestants answer questions, as if they came from an elementary grade school quiz. The orig ...

'' and ''

Whale Wars ''Whale Wars'' was a weekly American documentary-style reality television series that premiered on November 7, 2008 on the Animal Planet cable channel. The program follows Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, as he and ...

''. Vanacore began studying piano at the age of seven. Prior to his career as a composer, he worked as a studio session pianist/keyboardist and toured with

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

, among other artists. He studied orchestration at the

Dick Grove Richard Dean Grove (December 18, 1927 – December 26, 1998) was an American musician, composer, arranger, and educator. He is best known as the founder of the Dick Grove School of Music. Its students include Jerry Finn, Michael Jackson, Linda R ...

School of Music. After meeting television composer

Mike Post Mike Post (born Leland Michael Postil; September 29, 1944) is an American composer, best known for his television theme music for various shows, including '' The White Shadow''; ''Law & Order''; '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''; ''The A-Tea ...

led to an offer as his studio keyboard player, which introduced him to the world of music supervision for television. Vanacore's first major breakout as a TV composer occurred when he landed a job with

Mark Burnett James Mark Burnett (born 17 July 1960) is a British television producer who has won thirteen Emmy Awards including ten Primetime, one Sports Emmy Award and two Daytime Emmy Awards. His other accolades include five Producers Guild of America A ...

for the first season of ''

'' in 2000. Originating with ''Survivor,'' Vanacore developed a technique that he describes as "layers and structures," in which the composer provides music editors with a completed mix as well as isolated layers. Vanacore put together a team of composers, editors, musicians, engineers and producers, and founded

Vanacore Music David Vanacore is an American television music composer. Dubbed by television music industry insiders as 'The King of Reality television, Reality', David Vanacore is the composer behind many reality television series, such as ''Survivor (American ...

, a composing house headquartered in

Valencia, California Valencia is an unincorporated community in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The area, west of Interstate 5, is expanding with residential development and already includes major commercial and industrial parks. It stra ...

, that produces music for unscripted television series. As of 2023, Vanacore has won '' ASCAP's Most Performed Themes and Most Performed Underscore'' awards every year since 2005''.''

References

External links

* Living people American television composers Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) American chief executives California State University alumni People from North Haven, Connecticut {{US-composer-20thC-stub