At the 97th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday night (March 2), Daniel Blumberg took home the Oscar for best original score for composing the music of the towering drama The Brutalist.
Blumberg won his first Academy Award on his first nomination, after the 35-year-old previously won the Ivor Novello Award for best original film score for The World To Come in 2022. The Brutalist entered the Oscars with 10 total nominations, and director Brady Corbet’s film won one award prior to Blumberg’s victory, for best cinematography.
“I’ve been an artist for 20 years, since I was a teenager,” Blumberg said during his acceptance speech, “and when I met Brady, I met my artistic soulmate.” The musician also thanked, among others, the “hard-working, radical musicians” who helped perform his score for the film.
Blumberg’s work for The Brutalist was nominated alongside the scores for Conclave, Emilia Pérez, Wicked and The Wild Robot. In the evening’s other musical category, “El Mal,” from Emilia Pérez, won best original song.
The film — which runs three and a half hours long — was also nominated for best picture, best actor (which star Adrien Brody won), supporting actor, supporting actress, director, original screenplay, cinematography (which the film won), editing and production design.
The 2025 Oscars were hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien — who helmed the A-list ceremony for the first time — at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. The show aired live on ABC, and also livestreamed on Hulu for the first time.
