Howard Shore

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Biography

Howard Leslie Shore (born October 18, 1946) is a Canadian composer, notable for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy|The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he won three Academy Awards. He is also a consistent collaborator with director David Cronenberg , having scored all but one of his films since 1979.

He has also composed a few concert works including one opera , The Fly (opera)|The Fly , based on the plot (though not his score) of Cronenberg's The Fly (1986 film)|1986 film premiered at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on 2 July 2008., a short piece Fanfare for the Wanamaker Organ and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and a short overture for the Swiss 21st Century Symphony Orchestra.

Shore is a three-time winner of the Academy Award , and has also won three Golden Globe Awards and four Grammy Awards . He is the uncle of film composer Ryan Shore . Shore serves on the Board of Trustees at his alma mater, Berklee College of Music .

Early life and career

Shore was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada , the son of Bernice (née Ash) and Mac Shore. He studied music at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts|Boston after graduating from Forest Hill Collegiate Institute . From 1969 to 1972, he performed with the group Lighthouse (band)|Lighthouse . In 1970 he was the music director of Lorne Michaels and Hart Pomerantz's short-lived TV program The Hart & Lorne Terrific Hour . Shore wrote the music for Canadian magician Doug Henning 's magical/musical Spellbound in 1974, and he was the musical director for Lorne Michaels' hugely influential late-night NBC comedy show Saturday Night Live from 1975 to 1980, appearing in many musical sketches, including Howard Shore and His All-Nurse Band, and dressed as a beekeeper for a John Belushi / Dan Aykroyd performance of the Slim Harpo classic '' I'm a King Bee . Shore also suggested the name for The Blues Brothers to Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi.

Film scoring

1979–2000

Shore's first film score was to David Cronenberg 's first major film The Brood (1979). He would go on to score all of Cronenberg's subsequent films, with the exception of The Dead Zone (film)|The Dead Zone (1983), which was scored by Michael Kamen . The first film he scored that was not directed by Cronenberg was Martin Scorsese 's After Hours (film)|After Hours .

Following After Hours , he scored The Fly (1986 film)|The Fly (1986), again directed by Cronenberg. Two years later, he composed the score to Big (1988), directed by Penny Marshall and starring Tom Hanks . He then scored two more of David Cronenberg's films: Dead Ringers (film)|Dead Ringers (1988) and Naked Lunch (film)|Naked Lunch (1991).

During 1991, Shore composed the score for the highly acclaimed film The Silence of the Lambs (film)|The Silence of the Lambs , starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins , and directed by Jonathan Demme . He received his first British Academy of Film and Television Arts|BAFTA nomination for the score. The film became the third (and most recent) to win the five major Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Actress). Shore is the only living composer to have scored a "Top Five" Oscar winning film.

During 1993, he composed the scores for M. Butterfly (film)|M. Butterfly (another collaboration with Cronenberg), Philadelphia (film)|Philadelphia (his second collaboration with Jonathan Demme), and Mrs. Doubtfire , directed by Chris Columbus (filmmaker)|Chris Columbus . The latter two films were highly successful; Philadelphia winning Tom Hanks his first Oscar.

Shore scored another three films in 1994: The Client (1994 film)|The Client , Ed Wood (film)|Ed Wood , and '' Nobody's Fool (1994 film)|Nobody's Fool . Ed Wood is notable for being one of the two films directed by Tim Burton that did not feature a score by Danny Elfman .

Shore continued to score numerous films from 1995–2001, including two David Fincher films, Seven (film)|Seven (1995) and The Game (film)|The Game (1997); also, he collaborated on two films with Cronenberg along with Tom Hanks' directorial debut, That Thing You Do! .

2001–2005

Shore's major success came in 2001 with his score to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring , the first film in the highly acclaimed The Lord of the Rings film trilogy|The Lord of the Rings trilogy . The news that Shore would score the trilogy surprised some, since he was primarily associated with dark, ominous films and had never scored an epic of this scale. However, the score was hugely successful and won Shore his first Oscar, as well as a Grammy Award, and nominations for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA.

The following year, Shore composed the scores to Panic Room , Gangs of New York (replacing Elmer Bernstein ), and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers , the second film in the trilogy. The latter two films were both nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture , although neither won. Shore's score for The Two Towers was deemed ineligible for submission to the Academy, due to a new rule that disallowed the submission of scores which contained themes from previous work. This rule proved very unpopular, due to the fact that had it been present in earlier years, it would have invalidated various other sequel scores (such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones (franchise)|Indiana Jones ) from being nominated. As a result the Academy dispensed with this rule for future years. Shore did, however, receive a BAFTA nomination for Gangs of New York .

In 2003 he composed the score for the final film in The Lord of the Rings trilogy , The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King . The film was the most successful film in the trilogy and the most successful of the year. Shore won his second Oscar for Best Original Score, as well as a third for Best Original Song for " Into the West (song)|Into the West ", which he shared with Fran Walsh and Annie Lennox . The film was nominated for, and won a total of eleven Academy Awards, a record for the number of Oscars won by a single film, and a record that only two other films— Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic (1997) and Ben-Hur (1959 film)|Ben-Hur (1959)—have matched. Shore also won his first Golden Globe, his third and fourth Grammy (the fourth for Best Song), and was nominated for a third BAFTA. The scores of The Lord of the Rings became one of the most successful film scores ever written, and the biggest success in Shore's career.

In 2004, Shore again collaborated with Martin Scorsese, scoring his epic film The Aviator (2004 film)|The Aviator . He won a second Golden Globe for the score, becoming the second composer to have won consecutive Golden Globes in the Original Score category. He also received his sixth Grammy nomination, and his fifth BAFTA nomination.

He collaborated again with David Cronenberg in 2005 to score A History of Violence (film)|A History of Violence , starring Viggo Mortensen. The film was a success and received two Oscar nominations. In 2006, he collaborated for the fourth time with Martin Scorsese, this time to score The Departed . The film was highly successful and won four Oscars, including a long awaited win for Scorsese, and Best Picture.

Although Shore was originally commissioned to compose the soundtrack for King Kong (2005 film)|King Kong (indeed, he had already recorded most of the music), he was later replaced by James Newton Howard due to "differing creative aspirations for the score" on his and the filmmakers' parts. This was a mutual agreement between himself and Peter Jackson . Despite this, Shore has a cameo near the end of King Kong as the conducting|conductor of the pit orchestra in the theater, performing portions of Max Steiner 's score to the King Kong (1933 film)|original 1933 version of the film.

2006–present

In 2007, he composed the music for Soul of the Ultimate Nation , an online multiplayer video game. The soundtrack is notable for being the first video game soundtrack to feature Lydia Kavina on the theremin . During 2007 he also composed the scores to The Last Mimzy , and Eastern Promises , the latter of which was another collaboration with David Cronenberg and earned Shore his fourth Golden Globe nomination. In 2008 he scored Doubt (2008 film)|Doubt , starring Meryl Streep and directed by John Patrick Shanley . The film was a success, earning five Oscar nominations.

In 2010, Shore composed the score to the The Twilight Saga: Eclipse|third installment in the highly popular The Twilight Saga (film series)| Twilight film series , following Carter Burwell and Alexandre Desplat , who scored the first and second films, respectively. He also replaced John Corigliano to score Edge of Darkness (2010 film)|Edge of Darkness , starring Mel Gibson .

Shore's 2011 projects are A Dangerous Method , continuing his long-term collaboration with director David Cronenberg. He also composed the score to Martin Scorsese 's Hugo (film)|Hugo , his fifth collaboration with the director, which earned him a sixth Golden Globe nomination and fourth Oscar nomination.

Shore's future projects include Robert Sigl 's The Spider and Peter Jackson 's The Hobbit film project|The Hobbit , which is currently in production. He is also set to compose the music to Sinatra , and The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt , both of which are being directed by Martin Scorsese and are due for release in 2011.

Conducting and performing

Since 2004, he has toured the world conducting local orchestra s in the performance of his new symphony|symphonic arrangement of his highly acclaimed Music of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy|Lord of the Rings scores. The new work is entitled The Lord of the Rings: Symphony in Six Movements . There are two movements for each of the movies, and an intermission between the second and third (or first and second, in some cases) movements. The concert presentation of the symphony also includes projected still images relating the music being performed to scenes from the films. Recently, however, Shore has been busy with other projects, leaving other conductors including Markus Huber, Alexander Mickelthwaite, and John Mauceri to lead the orchestras.
April 24, 2008 marked the North American Live to Projection debut of Fellowship of the Ring , with the score performed live by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra , conducted by Ludwig Wicki. Wicki also conducted the Filene Center Orchestra at the Wolf Trap Farm Park in Vienna, Virginia on May 21 and 22, 2008 in the U.S. premiere of the Fellowship of the Ring Live to Projection.
September 16, 2010 Shore conducted the RSO Vienna (Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra) which performed "In Dreams from The Fellowship of the Ring" at Hollywood in Vienna in Vienna, Austria.

Television

Shore was commissioned by Macy's to write a Fanfare for the Store's 150th anniversary featuring the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Wanamaker Organ , the world's largest playing pipe organ. The work was debuted in the Grand Court of Macy's Philadelphia Store on September 27, 2008 in a concert that drew reviews from most of the major East Coast newspapers.

With John Lurie , Shore wrote the theme song for '' Late Night with Conan O'Brien . The theme was carried over to The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien|The Tonight Show '' when O'Brien succeeded Jay Leno as host.

Radio

Shore narrates a one-hour CBC Radio documentary/soundscape on music in thriller/suspense film genres also including references to radio dramas and other media. The episode was called "Unsettling Scores" and premiered on the program called Inside the Music .

Awards

Shore has received four Academy Award nominations, winning three, two for Academy Award for Original Music Score|Best Original Score , for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). He also won the Oscar for Academy Award for Best Original Song|Best Original Song for " Into the West (song)|Into the West " from Return of the King . He received his fourth nomination for his work on Hugo (2011 film)|Hugo .

Shore has also received six Golden Globe nominations, winning three consecutive awards for Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Score and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song|Best Original Song - "Into the West" for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) and The Aviator (2004 film)|The Aviator (2004), making him the only the second composer (after Alan Menken ) to have received consecutive Golden Globe Awards for Best Original Score. He also won three consecutive Grammy Awards for Best Score for each of the Lord of the Rings films, and received a second award in 2003 for the song "Into the West" from "Return of the King" in the category of Best Song. He has also received five BAFTA nominations, but has not won.

On June 11, 2007, Shore was awarded an Honorary doctorate|Honorary Doctor of Letters Degree from York University in Toronto for "his sweeping artistic vision".

Shore has also been honored with awards from National Board of Review|The National Board of Review , Recording Academy|Recording Academy Honors , Broadcast Film Critics Association|The Broadcast Film Critics , Chicago Film Critics , Genie Award , World Soundtrack Awards|World Soundtrack Award , New York's Gotham Award , and The Saturn Award for Science Fiction.

Shore is the first recipient of the Film & TV Music Award for Best Score for a Science Fiction Feature Film for The Last Mimzy .

On September 16, 2010 he was awarded with the Max Steiner Film Music Achievement Award by the City of Vienna at the yearly film music gala concert Hollywood in Vienna .

Filmography

The Brood (1979)

Scanners (1981)

Videodrome (1983)

After Hours (film)|After Hours (1985)

The Fly (1986 film)|The Fly (1986)

Big (1988)

Dead Ringers (film)|Dead Ringers (1988)

Naked Lunch (film)|Naked Lunch (1991)

The Silence of the Lambs (film)|The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

Philadelphia (film)|Philadelphia (1993)

M. Butterfly (film)|M. Butterfly (1993)

The Client (1994 film)|The Client (1994)

Ed Wood (film)|Ed Wood (Grammy Nominee) (1994)

'' Nobody's Fool (1994 film)|Nobody's Fool (1994)

Moonlight and Valentino (1995)

Seven (film)|Seven (1995)

Before and After (film)|Before and After (1996)

Crash (1996 film)|Crash (1996)

The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996)

That Thing You Do! (1996)

Striptease (film)|Striptease (1996)

The Game (film)|The Game (1997)

Cop Land (1997)

Gloria (1999 American film)|Gloria (1999)

eXistenZ (1999)

Analyze This (1999)

Dogma (film)|Dogma (1999)

High Fidelity (film)|High Fidelity (2000)

The Cell (2000)

The Yards (2000)

The Score (film)|The Score (2001)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Oscar Winner, Grammy Winner & Golden Globe Nominee) (2001)

Gangs of New York (2002)

Panic Room (2002)

Spider (film)|Spider (2002)

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Grammy Winner) (2002)

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2 Oscars Winner, 2 Golden Globes Winner & 2 Grammys Winner) (2003)

The Aviator (2004 film)|The Aviator (Golden Globe Winner & Grammy Nominee) (2004)

A History of Violence (film)|A History of Violence (2005)

The Departed (Grammy Nominee) (2006)

Soul of the Ultimate Nation ( MMORPG ) (2007)

The Last Mimzy (2007)

Eastern Promises (Golden Globe Nominee) (2007)

Doubt (2008 film)|Doubt (2008)

The Betrayal (2008)

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)

Edge of Darkness (2010 film)|Edge of Darkness (2010)

A Dangerous Method (2011)

Hugo (film)|Hugo (Oscar Nominee & Golden Globe Nominee) (2011)

The Spider (2012)

The Hobbit (2012 film)|The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Cosmopolis (film)|Cosmopolis (2012)

The Hobbit (2012 film)|The Hobbit: There And Back Again (2013)

Copyright Citations

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Classical Music Artists