Brent Belke

Composer Brent Belke has a unique background. As a co-founder of the catalystic skate-punk band SNFU, Belke played on the 1985 debut ...And No One Else Wanted to Play (winner of the 2022 Polaris Heritage Prize), plus 5 more albums released on BYO Records and Epitaph.

His turned attention to jazz and classical studies in 1998, and began a career in film and television scoring. He draws his inspiration from a passion to challenge, and works in a wide range of music styles, combining raw sound elements, electronics and traditional acoustic instruments. This eclecticism is clearly heard in the string quartet, Asian percussion and electronic textures of ’The Hunters’, in the solo guitar scoring of 'Drive, She Said', and in the radio dial variety of ‘You Me Her’ (nominated for 2 Leo Awards). Brent covers a wide musical landscape with a keen sense of harmony and melody.

He has a long history of working with director Mina Shum on theatrical features, including NFB documentary ‘Ninth Floor’ that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2015 and was a Leo nominee for Best Musical Score in a Documentary Program. His most recent film, ‘Can I Get a Witness?’, premiered at TIFF2024.