Biography
Carlos Rafael Rivera (born 18 August 1970) is an American composer. Born in Washington, D.C., he attended Belen Jesuit Preparatory School and studied guitar and composition at Florida International University, later earning a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Southern California.
Rivera is known for his scores for the Netflix series The Queen's Gambit (2020) and Godless (2017), as well as Hacks (2021–), Lessons in Chemistry (2023) and Dept. Q (2025). His work on The Queen's Gambit earned him a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media and an Emmy Award; he has also received Emmy Awards for Godless and Lessons in Chemistry. He serves as Professor and Chair of the Media Scoring and Production Department at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music.
