Mark Smythe, Los Angeles Composer and Educator, Dies at 53

Mark Smythe, the New Zealand-born composer nominated in 2023 for both a Society of Composers and Lyricists Award and a World Soundtrack Award for his score for The Reef: Stalked, died May 9 after collapsing while hiking on Mt. Wilson in Los Angeles. He was 53.

Mark Smythe

The Teal Moss Photography

Smythe was a familiar figure in film and TV composing circles, but his work reached beyond credits and commissions. He also served as chief operating officer of the Society of Composers and Lyricists from 2018 to 2021, following a period as the organization’s Los Angeles administrator.

“To say that his loss comes as a profound shock to our community, especially to his students, collaborators, and friends, is an understatement,” SCL president Ashley Irwin said.

Born in New Zealand, Smythe later moved to Australia before relocating to Los Angeles in 2013. Along with the SCL and World Soundtrack nominations, he received three Hollywood Music in Media Award nods for Unfallen, Flying South and The Things She Did. His score for Daddy’s Little Girl won best composer at the Australian Screen Industry Network awards in 2012.

Irwin said Smythe was widely admired within the community and pointed to the reaction to his death online.

“Beyond his professional accomplishments, people genuinely enjoyed Mark’s company, as evidenced by the current outpouring of love for him on social media,” Irwin said. “He had a wry sense of humor and an infectious laugh that could light up a room. Exceptionally generous with his time and energy, he had a way of making everyone feel welcome, whether they were longtime SCL members or attending their initial event. For many, Mark was the first friend they made at the SCL. Those who knew Mark will never forget being greeted with his favorite line: ‘I’m all the better for seeing your smiling face.’”

Australian music rights organization APRA AMCOS also posted a tribute on its Instagram page, noting that Smythe joined APRA in 2004 and worked in its Melbourne office for four years in the early 2000s as client and legal liaison before moving to Los Angeles to focus on film and concert composing full-time.

APRA AMCOS CEO Dean Ormston said Smythe’s death was “a great loss to the screen composing world” and to the wider musical communities he was part of. He added that Smythe was remembered by former colleagues for “the positive spirit he brought to work every day.”

At the time of his death, Smythe was teaching media composition at California State University, Northridge, and serving as department head of composing for visual media at the Los Angeles College of Music.

“Many composers in our community had the privilege of learning from Mark, and remember him not only as a great teacher, but as someone who believed in them personally,” Irwin said.

Smythe was also writing choral works and had collaborated with the LA Choral Lab on several projects. Survivors include his sister, Kate Ward-Smythe.