Simon Franglen scores Avatar: Fire and Ash

Last year, composer Simon Franglen began an extensive, multi-phase recording process for his score to Avatar: Fire and Ash, the next chapter in James Cameron’s Avatar saga. Scoring sessions commenced in February 2025 and continued through the end of October 2025 at the historic Newman Scoring Stage. We were fortunate to attend two of the orchestra sessions and are excited to present exclusive photos from the scoring stage for our readers.

The score was recorded primarily in sectional sessions, with strings, brass and woodwinds, percussion, choir, and a wide array of ethnic and custom-built instruments captured separately across multiple dates. In addition to these focused recordings, several large-scale tutti sessions brought the full ensemble together, allowing Franglen to shape the score’s sweeping thematic moments in a traditional orchestral setting.

The majority of the orchestral sessions were conducted by Anthony Parnther, with Franglen also stepping onto the podium for additional conducting throughout the process. Franglen worked closely with the film’s production team to design a series of unique instruments seen on screen, which were then constructed in the real world and incorporated directly into the score, further blurring the line between the film’s visual and musical storytelling.

In the control room, Franglen was joined by scoring mixer Brad Haehnel, orchestrators Steven Baker and Graham Foote, music editors Joe E. Rand and Darren Hall, technical score engineer Hari Muhic, scoring editor Brooke Villanyi, and Pro Tools recordist Kevin Globerman. Copyists Victor Pesavento and Mark Graham from JoAnn Kane Music Service were on the stage, handling the monumental amount of score parts.

Musically, Avatar: Fire and Ash contains subtle nods to James Horner’s original Avatar (2009) themes, while expanding upon the sonic world established in the first film. Franglen further develops the musical ideas he introduced in the second Avatar installment, evolving those themes and textures into a broader, more complex musical language that reflects the growing scope of the saga.

Avatar: Fire and Ash features more than three hours of original music, introducing major new themes, textures, and groundbreaking electronic elements that push the musical boundaries of the Avatar universe even further. The score blends operatic orchestral writing with experimental sound design, including the creation of entirely new instruments imagined for the film’s alien cultures.

Reflecting on the scope of the project, Franglen commented: “Looking back at the 1900 pages of score I wrote for Avatar: Fire and Ash, it has undoubtedly been the most challenging project I’ve ever worked on; I’m incredibly proud of this score. The sheer scale of this film has demanded everything from six-minute operatic epics to the creation of instruments for another planet. Throughout it all runs a strong thematic core. I’ve always believed in the power of music—and themes—to be the heartbeat of a film, and I hope that comes through when you listen.”

Avatar: Fire and Ash continues the musical legacy established in previous films while pushing the sonic boundaries of the franchise even further, underscoring the epic storytelling with one of the most ambitious scores ever produced for the series. The film opened at number one in December and has quickly become one of the top-grossing releases of 2025 worldwide. The soundtrack, featuring Franglen’s score and the new song “Dream as One,” co-written by Franglen and performed by Miley Cyrus, is now available from Walt Disney Records.

Special thanks to Ray Costa, Rebecca Morellato and Jon Bower

The post Simon Franglen scores <em>Avatar: Fire and Ash</em> appeared first on ScoringSessions.com.