Alan Silvestri | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Alan Anthony Silvestri |
Born | New York City, New York, U.S. | March 26, 1950
Genres | Film score, contemporary classical, jazz, ambient |
Occupation(s) | Composer, conductor, orchestrator, music producer |
Years active | 1972–present |
Spouse | Sandra Silvestri (m. 1978) |
Website | www |
Alan Anthony Silvestri (born March 26, 1950) is an American composer, conductor, orchestrator and music producer of film scores. He has received two Grammy Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.
He has been associated with director Robert Zemeckis since 1984, composing music for nearly all of his feature films including the Back to the Future film series (1985–1990), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Death Becomes Her (1992), Forrest Gump (1994), Contact (1997), What Lies Beneath (2000), Cast Away (2000), The Polar Express (2004), Beowulf (2007), Flight (2012) and The Walk (2015).
Silvestri also scored many other popular movies, including Predator (1987), The Abyss (1989), Father of the Bride (1991), The Bodyguard (1992), Eraser (1996), The Parent Trap (1998), Stuart Little (1999), The Mummy Returns (2001), Van Helsing (2004), Night at the Museum trilogy, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), The A-Team (2010), Ready Player One (2018), and several Marvel Cinematic Universe films, including the Avengers films.
Silvestri was born March 26, 1950. [1] His grandparents emigrated in 1909 from the Italian town of Castell'Alfero, and settled in Teaneck, New Jersey. [2] He grew up in Teaneck, [3] and graduated in 1968 from Teaneck High School. [4] He attended Berklee College of Music for two years. He was a drummer for a short time in 1966 with Teaneck-based rock band the Wildcats.
Silvestri moved to Los Angeles in 1970. "I came to Hollywood in 1970 broke.... I didn't even have any goals or plans. I didn't even go to movies. And I knew nothing about composers or composing," he said. [5] In 1972, while he was working intermittently as a session guitarist, the producer of the low-budget action film The Doberman Gang asked him to score the picture. Silvestri agreed, despite a lack of experience: "I went out and bought a how-to-compose book by Earl Hagen.... At one point, I was using beer cans for percussion." [5]
From 1978 to 1983, Silvestri was the main composer for the television series CHiPs , writing music for 95 of the show's 139 episodes.
Silvestri met film director Robert Zemeckis when they worked together on Zemeckis's film Romancing the Stone (1984). Since then, he has composed the music for all of Zemeckis's movies, including the Back to the Future trilogy (1985–1990), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Death Becomes Her (1992), Forrest Gump (1994), Contact (1997), Cast Away (2000), The Polar Express (2004), Beowulf (2007), A Christmas Carol (2009), Flight (2012), and The Walk (2015).
In 1989, Silvestri composed the score for the James Cameron-directed film The Abyss . Since 2001, he has also collaborated regularly with director Stephen Sommers, scoring the films The Mummy Returns (2001), Van Helsing (2004), and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009). He also composed the ImageMovers opening theme.
Silvestri has composed the scores for four Marvel Cinematic Universe films: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), The Avengers (2012), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019). His themes and motifs from those films have been referenced and reprised by other composers in multiple other MCU films.
Silvestri has also composed music for television series, including T. J. Hooker (one episode), Starsky & Hutch (three episodes), and Tales from the Crypt (seven episodes). In 2014, he composed the award-winning music for the science documentary series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey . He wrote new songs with Glen Ballard for the live-action/CGI film adaptation of Disney's Pinocchio . [6]
Silvestri and his wife Sandra own a vineyard, Silvestri Vineyards, in Carmel Valley, California. [7] He also has a wine tasting room for his vineyards on the ground floor of the Enchanted Oaks Building. [8] He has a daughter and two sons. A licensed pilot, he flies his own jet aircraft. [9]
Year | Title | Channel | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1978–1979 | Starsky & Hutch | ABC | 3 episodes |
1978–1983 | CHiPs | NBC | 95 episodes |
1983 | Manimal | 5 episodes | |
T. J. Hooker | ABC – CBS | Episode: "A Child Is Missing" | |
1986 | Amazing Stories | NBC | Episode: "Go to the Head of Class" |
1989–1995 | Tales from the Crypt | HBO | 7 episodes |
1991–1992 | Back to the Future | CBS | Theme only |
2014 | Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey | Fox / National Geographic Channel | 13 episodes |
2020 | Cosmos: Possible Worlds | 13 episodes | |
Silvestri has received two Academy Award nominations: Best Original Score for Forrest Gump (1994); and Best Original Song for "Believe" on The Polar Express soundtrack. He also received two Golden Globe nominations: Best Score for Forrest Gump and Best Song for The Polar Express. Silvestri received an honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music in 1995. [10]
He has also received nine Grammy Award nominations, winning two awards: Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for "Believe" from The Polar Express in 2004; and Best Instrumental Composition for "Cast Away End Credits" from Cast Away in 2002. His other nominations were for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special and Best Instrumental Composition, for Back to the Future in 1985, Best Album of Original Instrumental Background Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television, for Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988, Best Instrumental Composition, for "Who Framed Roger Rabbit Suite" in 1989, Best Pop Instrumental Performance, for "I'm Forrest...Forrest Gump (The Feather Theme)" in 1994, Best Instrumental Composition, for Avengers: Infinity War in 2018, and Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media, for Avengers: Endgame in 2019. [11] During the 2005 Grammy Awards, Josh Groban performed "Believe".
He has won two Emmys, both for Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey – Outstanding Main Title Theme Music and Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for the episode "Standing Up in the Milky Way". He has won the Saturn Award for Best Music three times, for his scores for Predator (1987), Back to the Future Part III (1989/90), and Van Helsing (2004). On September 23, 2011, he received the Max Steiner Film Music Achievement Award from the City of Vienna the yearly film-music gala concert Hollywood in Vienna.
Forrest Gump is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis. An adaptation of the 1986 novel by Winston Groom, the screenplay of the film is written by Eric Roth. It stars Tom Hanks in the title role, alongside Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, and Sally Field in lead roles. The film follows the life of an Alabama man named Forrest Gump (Hanks) and his experiences in the 20th-century United States.
The Academy Award for Best Original Score is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer. Some pre-existing music is allowed, though, but a contending film must include a minimum of original music. This minimum since 2021 is established as 35% of the music, which is raised to 80% for sequels and franchise films. Fifteen scores are shortlisted before nominations are announced.
Robert Lee Zemeckis is an American filmmaker known for directing and producing a range of successful and influential movies, often blending cutting-edge visual effects with storytelling. He has received several accolades including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for five British Academy Film Awards and a Daytime Emmy Award.
Forrest Gump: The Soundtrack is the soundtrack album for the 1994 Academy Award-winning Tom Hanks film Forrest Gump, and contains music from many well-known American artists. The score, composed by Alan Silvestri, was released separately on the same day. The album was reissued in 2001 with two additional tracks, namely "Running on Empty" by Jackson Browne and "Go Your Own Way" by Fleetwood Mac.
Ryan Shore is a Canadian composer, songwriter, conductor, music producer, and music director for film, television, virtual reality, records, games, concerts, and theater. He is often known from his scores for Star Wars, Scooby-Doo!, Elmo, and Go! Go! Cory Carson. He is the nephew of Academy Award winning film composer Howard Shore.
The Polar Express: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the animated film of the same name, released on November 2, 2004 by Warner Sunset Records and Reprise Records, composed by Alan Silvestri, with orchestrations provided by Conrad Pope and William Ross.
Forrest Gump – Original Motion Picture Score is the original score album for the 1994 film Forrest Gump, directed by Robert Zemeckis. The music was composed and conducted by Alan Silvestri.
Randy Kerber is an American composer, orchestrator and keyboard player, who has had a prolific career in the world of cinema.
Don Michael Burgess, is an American cinematographer, best known for his collaborations with director Robert Zemeckis. He was nominated for the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography for Zemeckis' Forrest Gump (1994). In 2024, he received the American Society of Cinematographers' Lifetime Achievement Award.
Van Helsing: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was composed and conducted by Alan Silvestri and released on May 4, 2004, by Decca Records. The score accompanies the 2004 film, as its name implies.
The Avengers (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the film score for the Marvel Studios film The Avengers composed and conducted by Alan Silvestri. It was released by Hollywood Records on May 1, 2012. A separate soundtrack and concept album, titled Avengers Assemble (Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture), by various artists was also released on the same date.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, directed by Robert Zemeckis and featured film score composed by regular Zemeckis collaborator Alan Silvestri, who conducted the London Symphony Orchestra. The musical score was heavily influenced on Carl W. Stalling's music composed for Looney Tunes. Apart from Silvestri's score, the film also features performances of "Hungarian Rhapsody", "Why Don't You Do Right?" by Amy Irving as Jessica Rabbit, "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" by Charles Fleischer as Roger Rabbit, and a choral version of "Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!" performed by the Toons.
Avengers: Infinity War is the film score for the Marvel Studios film Avengers: Infinity War by Alan Silvestri. Hollywood Records released the soundtrack album digitally on April 27, 2018, and in physical formats on May 18, 2018.
Avengers: Endgame is the film score for the Marvel Studios film Avengers: Endgame composed and conducted by Alan Silvestri. Hollywood Records released the soundtrack album digitally on April 26, 2019, with the physical formats being released on May 24, 2019.
The music of the Back to the Future franchise is composed in conjunction with the development of several feature films and a stage musical, within the Back to the Future franchise created by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale. All music in the franchise was composed by American composer Alan Silvestri, with The Musical being co-written with Glen Ballard.
Ready Player One is a 2018 American science fiction action film based on Ernest Cline's novel of the same name, directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Zak Penn and Cline. The film stars Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Lena Waithe, T.J. Miller, Simon Pegg, and Mark Rylance.
Pinocchio (Original Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2022 Disney film Pinocchio, a live-action remake of Walt Disney's 1940 animated film of the same name, which is itself based on the 1883 Italian book The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, the film is directed by Robert Zemeckis, and starred Tom Hanks, Cynthia Erivo and Luke Evans with Benjamin Evan Ainsworth (as the title character), Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Keegan-Michael Key and Lorraine Bracco in voice roles. The musical score was composed by Alan Silvestri, who regularly collaborated in all of Zemeckis' films, and was recorded at the Abbey Road Studios, London. Besides producing the score, Silvestri also wrote new songs for the film, with songwriter-producer Glen Ballard, while the songs from the original counterpart were also featured in the album. Walt Disney Records released the soundtrack album on September 8, 2022.
Allied (Music from the Motion Picture) is the soundtrack to the 2016 film of the same name directed by Robert Zemeckis. The film was scored by Zemeckis' regular collaborator Alan Silvestri in his 16th film together, ever since their collaboration with Romancing the Stone (1984). The album consisted 13 tracks from Silvestri's score released by Sony Classical Records on November 11, 2016.
The Walk (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2015 film The Walk, directed by Robert Zemeckis. The film's musical score is composed by Alan Silvestri and released under the Sony Classical Records on September 25, 2015.
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: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). Silvestrivineyards.com. Retrieved on May 2, 2012.