Zacarías M. de la Riva

Zacarías Martínez de la Riva (born August 12, 1972) is a Spanish film composer. Notable for his work in Tad, The Lost Explorer, Riva has worked on psychological thrillers, romantic comedies, dramas, documentaries, and animated films, as well as short films and television programs. Riva began a career as a telecommunications engineer. In 1992, he attended to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he received a dual degree in composition and film scoring.

After graduating, Riva returned to Spain and began working with young directors. He spent his first years as a composer, providing music for short films.

Since 2000, he began collaborating with well-known artists such as Juan Bardem, Lucio Godoy and Roque Baños as an orchestrator. He later made his debut music work in a feature film for the film titled 2001's Jaizkibel. In 2004, he composed the music for the first Tadeo Jones animated short, which won a Goya Award for Best Animated Short. In the same year he composed music for several films, including The Nun, Beneath Still Waters, and Specter.

In 2006, he met film producer Elías Querejeta and worked on a number of documentaries: Noticias de una Guerra (2006), Cerca de Tus Ojos (2008), and Las Catedrales de Vino (2009). In 2007, he met Manuel Carballo and composed the music for his opera, The Last of the Just. He also composed the soundtrack for another feature film, Exorcismus: The Possession of Emma Evans. In 2008, he began to work on international films, including The Anarchist's Wife, Carmo, and Imago Mortis.

In 2014, he wrote the music for science fiction movie Autómata. The score was well received by film music critics, and was nominated for best science fiction soundtrack in a number of festivals. It won 2014 best Spanish soundtrack and 2014 best Spanish composer.

In 2015, he composed music for three feature films. One was Mexican animated film, Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos, which was the first Mexican animated movie to receive a wide release in United States. Another was French experimental film, Evolution, directed by Lucile Hadzihalilovic, which won the Special Jury Prize at San Sebastian’s film festival. The third was an English horror movie, The Rezort, directed by Steve Barker.

In 2016, he composed for the American indie-thriller PET, directed by Carles Torrens. His music has been played by several well-known Spanish orchestras, such as the RTVE orchestra, the Euskadiko Orkester, the Ciudad de Granada Orchestra and the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra. His piece Apology was used by the 2018 Drum Corps International champions Santa Clara Vanguard as part of their production entitled Babylon.