Dan Foliart

Dan Foliart's music has been indelibly etched on the landscape of network television, as he celebrates his thirty consecutive years in the profession. Currently, he is serving his third term as president of the Society of Composers and Lyricists. He feels that the knowledge he has gleaned through six years at its head, relationships that he has nurtured through meetings with members of Congress and the Copyright Office, as well as friendships that he has fostered with his colleagues around the world, will be valuable components that he can bring to the ASCAP Board.

The composer of the underscore and theme song to last summer's hit, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Dan brings his unique touch to Brenda Hampton's latest series after an eleven year run on 7th Heaven, which made it television's longest running family drama. Along with Emmy nominations, Dan has garnered thirty ASCAP Film and Television Awards, largely due to two other long running series, Home Improvement and Roseanne, which also helped to make Dan a fifteen-time winner in the Most Performed Theme category.

Of the over fifty series he has composed for, many continue to run both in syndication and internationally. Beginning at Paramount Studios, with then partner, Howard Pearl, Dan started a ten-year run that included such favorites as Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Angie, Bosom Buddies, Joanie Loves Chachi, and Cable's first series, Brothers. Other series that he has been associated with include Beverly Hills 90210, 9 to 5, Guns of Paradise, Island Son, Carol and Company, Soul Man, Burke's Law, Malibu Shores, and 8 Simple Rules.

Growing up in Oklahoma City, he was proud to have his symphonic work, "Oklahoma Trilogy" recently performed as part of the state's Centennial celebrations. While enrolled at Amherst College where he received his BA degree, he had the opportunity to write the song score for GD Spradlin's film The Only Way Home. The songs were co-written with celebrated Nashville songwriter, Tom Shapiro, with whom he penned over one hundred more.

An avid preservationist, he was active in attempts to save the historic Ambassador Hotel, as well as the George Gershwin Beverly Hills residence. Dan played a key role in instigating the SCL's Ambassador program, which to date, has honored thirteen legends in the music profession. He has served for five years on the ASCAP Foundation Board, four years on the ASCAP Nominating Committee, ten years on the Television Academy's Music Peer Committee and sits on the Advisory Board of the Hollywood Symphony and the Film Music Society. He has lectured at NYU, Columbia, USC, the California Copyright Conference and recently at European Film Music Days in Paris. As an artist and producer, he has just completed a five-year labor of love, an album of calypso songs, "Back to the Island" with legendary Bahamian artist, Count Bernadino, whom he met in 1966. Dan lives in La Crescenta, California with his wife, Cheryl, an Executive at ABC, and has two children, Matt and Lauren.