A Childhood of Melodies and Dreams
A film score does more than accompany what we see. It reveals what characters cannot express, builds tension beyond the frame, and transforms images into emotional experiences.
This is the creative perspective of Rubén Gallardo, a film composer born in Felanitx, Mallorca, Spain, in 1992. His music explores the relationship between emotion, cinematic storytelling, and sound, combining the expressive power of the symphony orchestra with the intimacy of the piano and the creative possibilities of contemporary music production.
Driven by a passion for composition that began in childhood and shaped by a musical journey largely developed through self-directed learning, Gallardo has gradually forged an artistic identity defined by constant evolution and a desire to explore the expressive possibilities of music in film.
From Musical Curiosity to Composition
Rubén grew up in a family deeply connected to music. His father, a musician and composer, instilled in him from an early age an appreciation for musical creation and sparked a lasting curiosity about instruments and their expressive possibilities. Surrounded by guitars, a piano that was always close at hand, and sound equipment, he began experimenting intuitively, discovering for himself the richness of the musical world around him.
Although his first guitar lessons came from his father, much of his musical development was self-taught. His learning grew out of exploration, attentive listening, and an almost instinctive need to create. At the age of eleven, he wrote his first compositions. What began as a spontaneous way of exploring music gradually evolved into melodies with an increasingly symphonic and orchestral character. Without yet having defined his professional future, Rubén was beginning to discover a particular affinity for large-scale musical structures, melodic themes, and music’s ability to evoke images, stir emotions, and tell stories.
During his teenage years, he continued developing his musical skills at the Felanitx Conservatory, specializing in percussion and drums while also pursuing studies related to sound and music production. This combination of disciplines established a solid technical foundation that would later become one of the cornerstones of his identity as a composer.
The Beginning of a Film Scoring Career
In 2017, Rubén received his first film scoring commission: the music for Zerø. What initially began as a request to compose a piano piece soon developed into a much greater opportunity: composing the film’s entire score.
The release of Zerø marked the beginning of his professional career as a film composer. Its score won Best Original Score at the Films InFest festival, providing an important early boost to his career, opening new opportunities in the audiovisual industry, and strengthening his commitment to composing music for the screen.
From his earliest projects, Rubén demonstrated a natural inclination toward expansive symphonic soundscapes. His fascination with the orchestra, thematic development, and the combination of acoustic instruments with contemporary music production techniques began to shape the foundations of his musical identity.
Over time, he came to understand that developing a distinctive voice required far more than creating a recognizable sound. He deepened his knowledge of arranging and orchestration, independently studied the techniques behind major film scores, and paid increasingly close attention to the relationship between music, film genre, and narrative structure. Through this process, he began to develop an approach to film scoring in which musical power and expression always serve the story.
Early Recognition and Musical Development
Following the release of Zerø, the years that followed brought further recognition for Rubén’s work as a film composer. In 2018, the film received its second award, winning Best Original Score at the Barcelona Planet Film Festival.
That same year, Rubén was also recognized by the Balearic Association of Soundtrack Enthusiasts (ABABS) for his score for Retorno. In 2019, he once again won Best Original Score at the Films InFest festival for the same film, adding further accolades to a career that was beginning to establish itself in the audiovisual industry.
Alongside his work in film scoring, Rubén expanded his activities into music production and album projects. In 2018, he worked as a producer on the album Por Amor al Arte, earning another award at the Premis Enderrock. This experience revealed another dimension of his musical work, connected to the sonic and artistic development of projects beyond film composition.
In 2020, Rubén released Alma, his second studio album, an instrumental work centered on the piano that reveals the most intimate and personal side of his creative world. The album showcased another facet of his musical sensibility, stepping away from expansive orchestral soundscapes to focus on the expressive power of the piano and its ability to forge a direct emotional connection with the listener.
Finding a Cinematic Voice
Following his early recognition and several years of continuous learning, 2020 marked the beginning of a new chapter in Rubén Gallardo’s career, shaped by two particularly significant projects: El Viaje de Nuestras Vidas and La Leyenda de Oriol.
The score for El Viaje de Nuestras Vidas (Somos Tierra) was selected as one of the ten finalists for the Gil Soundtrack Awards, an achievement that highlighted his work and provided fresh momentum for his career as a film composer.
Shortly afterwards came La Leyenda de Oriol, a film that would become a turning point in his career. The emotional depth of its story led him to invest himself deeply in composing a score that he considers his most significant work to date. Through the piano, supported by the symphony orchestra, the music seeks to give voice to pain, vulnerability, and the emotional bond between the characters, becoming an essential part of the film’s storytelling.
For this work, he also received recognition from the Asociación Balear de Amigos de las Bandas Sonoras (ABABS), the second time the organization had honored his work as a composer. This distinction further affirmed his development within the Balearic Islands’ musical and cinematic landscape.
Beyond the recognition itself, La Leyenda de Oriol brought a decisive shift in his understanding of film scoring. The experience allowed him to explore the relationship between music and image more deeply and develop a more mature, emotionally driven, and narrative-focused musical language, in which every musical decision serves the story and helps convey what images alone cannot always express.
International Expansion
From 2023 onwards, Rubén Gallardo’s career began to reach new horizons through his involvement in international film projects. The documentary Whale marked the beginning of this new chapter, followed by Spring (Re-scored) and Key Lime Pie. These three projects broadened his experience and allowed him to explore new ways of creating atmospheres, shaping emotions, and giving images a distinctive musical identity.
This international expansion also marked a significant step forward in his development as a composer. Working on productions from different backgrounds broadened his perspective on the relationship between music and image, enriching his approach to storytelling while keeping emotion and cinematic narrative at the heart of his musical language.
Within this period, Mirror Stacy holds a particularly significant place. In 2024, its score won Best Original Score at the New York City International Films InFest Festival, adding another milestone to his career and strengthening the international reach of his work. Beyond the award itself, this project forms part of a journey defined by the continuous pursuit of new creative horizons and the development of a distinctive musical identity in service of the screen.
A New Chapter of Growth and New Horizons
Rubén Gallardo is currently immersed in a period of intense creative activity, balancing film scoring with stage productions, studio work, and musical collaborations. In 2026, projects such as Debod, Lo Invisible, and Fisión form part of a period of artistic growth, while the release of the score for Amy marks a significant step in the evolution of his musical language.
In Amy, Rubén explores a more mature compositional approach and a broader sonic vision, combining the power of the symphony orchestra, the development of expansive musical themes, and the richness of layered textures to create a deeply emotional and cinematic experience. The score reflects his desire to develop a distinctive sound of his own, capable of moving between emotional intimacy and the intensity of large-scale orchestral writing, always in service of the story. This evolution points towards an increasingly ambitious approach to film scoring, both in its narrative depth and its expressive power.
This vision also shapes his approach to collaboration. For Rubén, composing a film score means understanding the director’s perspective, delving into the dramatic needs of the film, and finding a musical voice that engages in dialogue with the images and helps define their identity. Rather than simply accompanying the action, he seeks to amplify emotions, bring new dimensions to the narrative, and create music that stays with audiences long after the film has ended.
In 2027, Rubén Gallardo will celebrate ten years as a professional film composer. A decade of learning, exploration, and transformation has shaped his path as a composer and allowed him to develop an increasingly personal artistic vision. This anniversary is not merely an opportunity to reflect on the journey so far, but also the beginning of a new chapter: a chance to embrace new challenges, expand his creative horizons, and continue exploring music’s ability to transform a story into an unforgettable experience.
Rubén gallardo
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