Alan Silvestri

Renowned film and television composer Alan Silvestri is being honored with a Golden Score Award by the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers on March 14, 2007. With 36 years of experience composing and scoring music for an impressive body of work, Silvestri has distinguished himself as one of the greatest and most versatile composers of his generation.

Silvestri is well known for his long-running relationship with producer/film director Robert Zemeckis, joining together on such films as Beowulf, The Polar Express, Cast Away, What Lies Beneath, Back to the Future I, II and III, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Romancing the Stone, to name a few. Next, the award-winning composer will soon start work on the score for the upcoming Stephen Sommers' film, G.I. Joe, which is currently filming and is due out in 2009. His list of other past projects reads like a collection of popular titles from the last few decades -- Forrest Gump, The Abyss, Predator I and II, Stuart Little, Father of the Bride, Grumpy Old Men, The Bodyguard, What Women Want, Lilo & Stitch, Van Helsing and Night at the Museum.

In a recent interview with Colonne Sonore, Silvestri revealed what he thought was the composer's job in film scoring. "You somehow need to find thematic material that will address all this areas that you speak of," he said. "Then of course, if you have a clearly defined theme, you have the opportunity to show it in many different musical settings, as you go through the narrative. So I think you can say it's difficult but it these tasks are really at the heart of what it means to be a film composer."

Over the years, the Berklee College of Music graduate has earned Oscar nods for Best Original Score for Forrest Gump and Best Song for "Believe" for The Polar Express. He took home Grammys for the Cast Away soundtrack and for the song "Believe" from The Polar Express. He was also nominated at the World Soundtrack Awards in 2005. ASCAP has also honored him with multiple awards, including the prestigious ASCAP Henry Mancini Award at the 2002 ASCAP Film and Television awards, in recognition of his outstanding achievements and contributions to the world of film and television music.

"I have a certain way of saying things," noted Silvestri. "Maybe in the end that's what everyone would call a style. It was fun to go back and see how I have spoken with music over such a long period of time; to see that my voice maybe sounded a little younger 25 years ago but it was still my voice.

— Jin Moon


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