 | This biographical article is written like a résumé .(January 2024) |
Mark Andrew Slater (born 1 April 1969) is a British film composer, conductor, cellist and pianist. He is the composer for the film Flatland, 400 Years of the Telescope., [1] and numerous planetarium fulldome films. [2] He lives in Tokyo, Japan and is a professor of film music at Andvision International Music School, Tokyo. [3] Slater is a sponsored artist of the Make Art Not War Foundation. [4]
Slater was born on 1 April 1969 in Reigate, Surrey. His musical background includes a father who is a professor of music and conductor, a degree from the London College of Music and five years as a cathedral chorister at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. [5] Slater appeared on Central TV in 1982 [6] as a treble soloist on A Ceremony of Carols filmed as a follow-up to an album issued by ASV Records and on the 1984 Decca release of the Messiah performed by the Academy of Ancient Music. [7] In 1998, Slater made his debut at Dorking Halls, Surrey as a solo pianist performing Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini. [8] Slater's "crisp" piano playing was compared to Gershwin in a performance of Rhapsody in Blue. [9] A composition by Slater written for a fund raising concert in 1999 for Kosovo War refugees 'Tempus Fugit' made a "stunning impression." [10] Slater appeared in other Surrey concerts as a conductor [11] and organist. [12]
In 2006 Slater scored the animated feature film Flatland: The Film [13] [14] [15] directed by Ladd Ehlinger Jr. In 2007 Tribal DDB commissioned Slater to provide a film score for the Philips Aurea Seduction by Light [16] [17] campaign. [18] The project won prestigious industry awards in the Consumer Electronics category including specific awards for music [19] and People's Voice at the 12th Annual 2008 Webby Awards.
In 2008 Slater scored the music for 400 Years of the Telescope, [20] a PBS special for the 2009 International Year of Astronomy, with the London Symphony Orchestra, which garnered Slater a Telly Award. The related fulldome video project, Two Small Pieces of Glass, became the most played planetarium full dome film shown for 3 years in a row. [21] Planetarium Director Andrew Kerr said "it has the most spectacular beginning of any planetarium show", noting the "visceral feeling" created by the score with the visuals. [22] This marked the start of acclaimed soundtracks [23] for the fulldome planetarium world [24] such as Natural Selection (2010), [25] Dinosaurs at Dusk (2013), [26] Edge of Darkness (2015), Mars 1001 (2018). [27]
In 2020, Slater produced music for the Tokyo Olympics VR coverage by COSM Studios [28] and an 8-part VR series for Meta Platforms, Tokyo Origami. [29] The episode "Through the Eyes of an Otaku" won Best Short at the Brno Fulldome Film Festival. [30]
In 2021, Slater collaborated with Argentinian composer Gabriel Lococo on an anti-war concept album about the Falklands War / Guerra de Malvinas: a 10-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over the islands. [31] The album, Temas Unidos, [32] [33] was recognized by the legislature of Buenos Aires as Culturally and Socially Significant in 2022.
In 2023, Slater was the mixing engineer and producer for a live concert album from the Whisky a Go Go nightclub with Uruguayan–Argentine singer Alika and Quinto Sol performing [34]