Alastair King

Last updated

Alastair King
Born1967 (age 5657)
Genres Film score, Classical music
Occupation(s) Conductor, Composer, Orchestrator

Alastair King (born 1967) is a British composer and conductor, perhaps best known for his musical contributions to film and television. He frequently collaborates with composers Charlie Mole, Geoff Zanelli, Nicholas Hooper and Rupert Gregson-Williams by either conducting for them or acting as an orchestrator or both.

Contents

Biography

King studied music at Bath College of Higher Education, graduating in 1991. He then undertook postgraduate study at Birmingham University and the University of Kansas.

His work Hit the Ground (Running, Running, Running) was the only European entry in the final of the composing competition Masterprize 2001.

In addition to his concert works, King has composed music for various films, including Shrek , Chicken Run , and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and television programmes, including the FIFA World Cup 2002, The Last Detective , Second Nature and William and Mary .

King's most recent roles include conducting and orchestrating on Doctor Who for Murray Gold and Segun Akinola. He replaced Ben Foster after his departure in 2015 and took on the full role for Series 10. He left the show after the 2017 Christmas special Twice Upon a Time , then returned in 2021 for Series 13's The Vanquishers , the finale of the six-part Flux arc, as well as the final three specials of Jodie Whittaker's era as the Thirteenth Doctor in 2022.

Filmography

YearTitleComposer(s)Notes
2001 Shrek Harry Gregson-Williams
John Powell
Music Assistant
2002 Thunderpants Rupert Gregson-Williams Conductor and Orchestrator
The Heart of Me Nicholas Hooper Conductor
Plots with a View Rupert Gregson-WilliamsConductor and Orchestrator
2003 What a Girl Wants
2004 Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London Mark ThomasMusic Preparation
King Arthur Hans Zimmer Music arranger: Choral
Hotel Rwanda Rupert Gregson-WilliamsAdditional score arranger
2005 The Magic Roundabout Mark ThomasConductor: Choir
Kingdom of Heaven Harry Gregson-Williams Orchestrator
Guy X Charlie Mole
Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson
Conductor and Orchestrator
The Island Steve Jablonsky Conductor: Choir
Spirit Trap Guy Fletcher Orchestrator
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit Julian Nott Composer of Additional Music
Blood Rayne Henning Lohner Conductor
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Harry Gregson-WilliamsConductor: Choir(uncredited)
2006Goose on the LooseCharlie MoleConductor and Orchestator
Curious George Heitor Pereira
Over the Hedge Rupert Gregson-Williams
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Hans ZimmerConductor: Choir
Fade to Black Charlie MoleConductor and Orchestrator
2007 Mr. Bean's Holiday Howard Goodall Orchestrator
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Nicholas HooperConductor and Orchestrator
Bee Movie Rupert Gregson-Williams
Fred Claus Christophe Beck Conductor
St Trinian's Charlie MoleOrchestrator
2008 Made of Honor Rupert Gregson-WilliamsConductor(uncredited) and Orchestrator
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
Bedtime Stories Orchestrator
2009 The Maiden Heist Conductor and Orchestrator
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Nicholas Hooper
Dorian Gray Charlie Mole
Harry Brown
Orchestrator
St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold Charlie MoleConductor and Orchestrator
2010 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Harry Gregson-WilliamsOrchestrator(uncredited)
Grown Ups Rupert Gregson-WilliamsOrchestrator
2011 Just Go with It
Zookeeper
Stella Days Nicholas HooperConductor and Orchestrator
Beneath the Darkness Geoff Zanelli Conductor
Jack and Jill Rupert Gregson-Williams
Waddy Wachtel
Orchestrator
2012 Red Lights Victor ReyesConductor
Should've Been RomeoGeoff ZanelliConductor and Orchestrator
That's My Boy Rupert Gregson-WilliamsOrchestrator
Total Recall Harry Gregson-Williams
Song for Marion Laura Rossi Conductor and Orchestrator
Here Comes the Boom Rupert Gregson-WilliamsOrchestrator
2013 Dead Man Down Jacob Groth Conductor and Orchestrator
Grown Ups 2 Rupert Gregson-WilliamsOrchestrator
Gravity Steven Price Orchestrator(uncredited)
2014 Vampire Academy Rolfe Kent Orchestrator
Winter's Tale Hans Zimmer
Rupert Gregson-Williams
Blended Rupert Gregson-Williams
Postman Pat: The Movie Conductor and Orchestrator
Exodus: Gods and Kings Alberto Iglesias Orchestrator
2015 The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power Geoff Zanelli
Mortdecai Geoff Zanelli
Mark Ronson
Conductor and Orchestrator
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 Rupert Gregson-WilliamsOrchestrator
The Martian Harry Gregson-Williams
The Ridiculous 6 Rupert Gregson-Williams
Elmo Webber
2016 Dad's Army Charlie MoleConductor and Orchestrator
Altamira Mark Knopfler
Evelyn Glennie
Orchestrator
The Do-Over Rupert Gregson-William
The Legend of Tarzan Conductor and Orchestrator
Masterminds Geoff ZanelliOrchestrator
Winter ThawNicholas HooperConductor and Orchestrator
2017 The Ottoman Lieutenant Geoff ZanelliOrchestrator
Sandy Wexler Rupert Gregson-Williams
Wonder Woman Conductor and Orchestrator
2018Swimming with MenCharlie Mole
Skyscraper Steve JablonskyConductor
The Meg Harry Gregson-WilliamsOrchestrator
Aquaman Rupert Gregson-WilliamsConductor and Orchestrator

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Steiner</span> Austrian-born American composer (1888–1971)

Maximilian Raoul Steiner was an Austrian composer and conductor who emigrated to America and became one of Hollywood's greatest musical composers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Herrmann</span> American composer (1911–1975)

Bernard Herrmann was an American composer and conductor best known for his work in composing for films. As a conductor, he championed the music of lesser-known composers. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest film composers. Alex Ross writes that "Over four decades, he revolutionized movie scoring by abandoning the illustrative musical techniques that dominated Hollywood in the 1930s and imposing his own peculiar harmonic and rhythmic vocabulary."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Goldsmith</span> American film composer (1929–2004)

Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer, with a career in film and television scoring that spanned nearly 50 years and over 200 productions, between 1954 and 2003. He was considered one of film music's most innovative and influential composers. He was nominated for eighteen Academy Awards, six Grammy Awards, five Primetime Emmy Awards, nine Golden Globe Awards, and four British Academy Film Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Arnold</span> British film composer

David Arnold is an English film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films (1997-2008), as well as Stargate (1994), Independence Day (1996), Godzilla (1998), Shaft (2000), 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), Four Brothers (2005), Hot Fuzz (2007), and the television series Little Britain and Sherlock. For Independence Day, he received a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television, and for Sherlock, he and co-composer Michael Price won a Creative Arts Emmy for the score of "His Last Vow", the final episode in the third series. Arnold scored the BBC / Amazon Prime series Good Omens (2019) adapted by Neil Gaiman from his book Good Omens, written with Terry Pratchett. Arnold is a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Russell Bennett</span> Musical artist

Robert Russell Bennett was an American composer and arranger, best known for his orchestration of many well-known Broadway and Hollywood musicals by other composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, and Richard Rodgers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Fenton</span> British film composer (born 1949)

George Richard Ian Howe Fenton, known professionally as George Fenton, is an English composer. Best known for his work writing film scores and music for television, he has received five Academy Award nominations, several Ivor Novello, BAFTA, Golden Globe, Emmy and BMI Awards, and a Classic BRIT. He is one of 18 songwriters and composers to have been made a Fellow of the Ivors Academy.

Alexander Mair Courage Jr. familiarly known as "Sandy" Courage, was an American orchestrator, arranger, and composer of music, primarily for television and film. He is best known as the composer of the theme music for the original Star Trek series.

Stavros Xarchakos, Greek: Σταύρος Ξαρχάκος is a Greek composer and conductor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Giacchino</span> American music composer (born 1967)

Michael Giacchino is an American composer of music for film, television, and video games. He has received many accolades for his work, including an Oscar for Up (2009), an Emmy for Lost (2004), and three Grammy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Davis (composer)</span> American composer and orchestrator

Donald Romain Davis is an American composer, conductor, and orchestrator known for his film and television scores. He has also composed opera, concert and chamber music. He has collaborated with well-known directors including the Wachowskis, Ronny Yu, and Joe Johnston in genres ranging from horror, to action, to comedy.

Brad Ellis is an American composer, musical director, singer, orchestrator, and jazz pianist. Ellis is perhaps most visible as Brad the mostly quiet pianist for the high school kids on Glee, the Fox television show for which he is part of creator Ryan Murphy's musical production team.

Joey Newman is an American film composer, orchestrator, arranger and conductor working in the fields of film and television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murray Gold</span> British composer

Murray Jonathan Gold is an English composer for stage, film, and television and a dramatist for both theatre and radio. He is best known as the musical director and composer of the music for Doctor Who from its revival in 2005 until 2017. In 2023, he was announced to be returning to the series. Gold's other television work includes Queer as Folk, Last Tango in Halifax and Gentleman Jack. He has been nominated for five BAFTAs.

Shirley Anne Walker was an American film and television composer and conductor. She was one of the few female film score composers working in Hollywood during her career. Walker was one of the first female composers to earn a solo score credit on a major Hollywood motion picture and according to the Los Angeles Times, is remembered as a pioneer for women in the film industry.

Frederick Steiner was an American composer, conductor, orchestrator, film historian and arranger for television, radio and film. Steiner wrote the theme music for The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show and Perry Mason. While Alexander Courage composed the theme music for the original Star Trek TV series (TOS), Steiner's significant contributions to the franchise included composing more of the incidental music for TOS than any other composer, as well as scoring or conducting the music for 29 of the show's 79 episodes. Steiner also composed and orchestrated additional music for Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), was part of the team of composers for the 1985 film, The Color Purple, which received an Oscar nomination, and was an uncredited composer for Return of the Jedi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Foster (composer)</span> Musical artist

Ben Foster is a BAFTA award-winning British composer, best known for his work on the BBC series Torchwood and as orchestrator for Murray Gold on Doctor Who and for Marc Streitenfeld on Prometheus and The Grey. He is also known for his work as the conductor for Peter Gabriel's Scratch my Back world tour and albums, and for the BBC Proms Doctor Who events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Altman (composer)</span> British film composer

John Altman is an English film composer, music arranger, orchestrator and conductor.

Nathan Scott was an American film score and television composer. He composed, conducted, arranged and orchestrated more than 850 separate credits in television, as well as the music for more than 100 films. His credits in television included Lassie, The Twilight Zone and Dragnet, while his film credits included the film score for Wake of the Red Witch.

Peter Matz was an American musician, composer, arranger, and conductor. His musical career in film, theater, television, and studio recording spanned fifty years. He worked with a number of prominent artists, including Marlene Dietrich, Noël Coward and Barbra Streisand. Matz won three Emmys and a Grammy Award. He is best known for his work on Streisand's early albums and for his tour as the orchestral conductor and musical director for The Carol Burnett Show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Groupé</span> Musical artist

Lawrence Nash Groupé is an American film score composer for Immediate Music's offshoot label, Imperativa Records. Groupé has composed and orchestrated music for dozens of films and television programs. His most popular works include the score for Rod Lurie's movies Deterrence and The Contender, and the television series Commander in Chief, which starred Geena Davis as the United States' first female President, Mackenzie Allen. Groupé has been nominated four times for an Emmy award, and won three. In 2004, he was nominated for an Emmy for the best original score for the TV series Line of Fire. He later won Emmys for the score of the documentary film Jonas Salk: Personally Speaking, for the short subject film "Residue", about the US early involvement in Cambodia, and for Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story.

References