Zwart hired Icelandic composer Atli Örvarsson to contribute music for the film but was replaced by James Horner in March 2010.[1] After his completion on Avatar (2009), Horner recorded the musical score at the Sony Scoring Stage and utilized ethnic instrumentation from China due to the film's setting and incorporated East Asian musical elements throughout the score.[2] The film's official theme song "Never Say Never", performed by Justin Bieber and Smith and released as a single on June 8, was not included in the soundtrack.[3][4] The album was released through Madison Gate Records on June 15, 2010.
Thomas Glorieuz of Maintitles wrote "Like the film, the music is nothing like The Karate KidofBill Conti, but it wins its own battles easily enough, this due to James Horner's never failing spirit."[5]Filmtracks.com wrote "If Horner had explored original thematic ideas for The Karate Kid, it would easily be a four-star score."[6] Pete Simons of Synchrotones described the score as "playful" and "colorful".[7]
Bass – Bruce Morgenthaler, Christian Kollgaard, David Parmeter, Drew D. Dembowski, Edward Meares, Nico Carmine Abondolo, Oscar Hidalgo, Susan Ranney, Michael Valerio
Bassoon – Kenneth Munday, Michael R. O'Donovan
Cello – Andrew T. Shulman, Antony Cooke, Armen Ksajikian, Cecelia Tsan, Dennis Karmazyn, George Kim Scholes, John Walz, Paula Hochhalter, Steve Erdody, Timothy Landauer
Clarinet – Ralph Williams, Gary S. Bovyer
Flute – Geraldine Rotella, David Shostac
Harp – Marcia Dickstein, Jo Ann Turovsky
Horn – Brian D. O'Connor, Daniel P. Kelley, David Duke, Jenny L. Kim, Mark L. Adams, Richard Todd, Steven Becknell, James W. Thatcher
Oboe – Leslie H. Reed, Barbara Northcutt
Percussion – Gregory Goodall, Michael Fisher, Peter Limonick, Robert Zimmitti
Piano – Gloria Cheng, Ian Underwood, Randy Kerber
Timpani – Donald J. Williams
Trombone – Alexander Iles, Andrew Thomas Malloy, Robert Sanders, William Booth
Trumpet – Jon Lewis, Timothy G. Morrison, David Washburn
Tuba – Doug Tornquist
Viola – Andrew Duckles, Brian Dembow, Darrin McCann, David F. Walther, Jennie Hansen, Matthew Funes, Robert A. Brophy, Shawn Mann, Steven Gordon, Victoria Miskolczy, Pamela Goldsmith
Violin – Alan Grunfeld, Alex Shlifer, Ana Landauer, Anatoly Rosinsky, Belinda Broughton, Bruce Dukov, David Ewart, Endre Granat, Eric J. Hosler, Galina Golovin, Haim Shtrum, Jacqueline Brand, James F. Sitterly, Katia Popov, Kenneth Yerke, Kevin Connolly, Mark Robertson, Miran Kojian, Natalie Leggett, Phillip Levy, Radu Pieptea, Rafael Rishik, Rebecca Bunnell, Roberto Cani, Roger Wilkie, Ron Clark, Shalini Vijayan, Sungil Lee, Vladimir Polimatidi, Julie Ann Giganto
