Bio

Diego Ayala Raffalli is a Venezuelan film composer based in Paris, with an eclectic musical background spanning rock, jazz, classical, and electroacoustic music. He graduated from the film score composition program at the Paris Conservatoire (CNSMD Paris) in 2022.
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Diego has composed original music for films, advertising, dance performances, live-to-picture concerts, projection mappings, and orchestral works. Notable projects include Don't Cry, Butterfly (Venice Critics’ Week Grand Prize, Verona Film Club Prize, TIFF, Busan International Film Festival), Como si la tierra se las hubiera tragado (Sundance Short Film Jury Award winner 2025, Clermont-Ferrand..), My Wonderful Life (SXSW, Singapore International Film Festival) and On the Edge (Student Academy Award nominee).
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His diverse musical experience allows him to explore a wide range of influences, always aiming to serve the unique universe of each project. He values creative collaboration and enjoys working closely with directors to find the perfect musical voice for their films.
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In addition to composing, he is also an orchestrator and composer assistant. He notably orchestrated the Latin Grammy-nominated album Gerry Weil Sinfónico and has worked with French composer Delphine Malausséna on various film and TV projects.
Photo by Sofîa Barandiaran

Musical approach and philosophy
One of the key aspects of why I enjoy doing what I do is that film scoring is always an adventure into the unknown. Music is infinite, and the possibilities for scoring a scene are endless. It's in this initial discovery phase that, alongside the director or the creative team, we sail into the "sea of possibilities" (as Patti Smith would say) and set out to discover the music that best suits the film. Intuition guides every step of this journey, often taking us to strange or unexpected places. Sometimes the most obvious musical choice works best for a scene, and sometimes, through musical exploration and experimentation, we find something completely unexpected that resonates on a core emotional level.
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Formal musical training and experience in screen scoring have provided me with the technical knowledge and sensibility to explore all genres. I always approach every project with a blank slate, detached from any preconceived notion of what a film score can or cannot be.


Artwork by Fanny Marec
Awards, residencies and festivals

FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL MUSIC & CINEMA MARSEILLE
Masterclass 2022 et Troisième Personnage 2023, 2024
Compositeur et interprète du ciné-concert de clôture du Festival en 2022.
France Music-SACEM film score award
Michel Legrand fait son cinéma 2022
Commission from Radio France following the 2020 "Prix de l'avenir"
FESTIVAL DES ARCS
Music Village 2021
Among the four composers selected to participate in the 2021 Music Village residency
PARIS CITY HALL
Festival Enfances au Cinéma 2021, 2020
Composer for a children’s film concert
FESTIVAL D'ANIMATION D'ANNECY
Festival credits
Composer for festival opening credits films Taste of Tokyo (2019), Idol-Idol (2019), Bumba meu Boi (2018)


