Name:______

Grade:______

COMPOSER OF THE MONTH (November)

Birth: February 8, 1932 in Floral Park, NY

CLUES: He was born in Floral Park, NY but moved to Los Angeles as a teenager, where he graduated from North Hollywood High School and studied composition at UCLA. In 1952, he was drafted into the U. S. Air Force, where he conducted and arranged music for the U.S. Air Force Band. After his service, he moved back to New York to study piano at the Juilliard School, and later, the Eastman School. He returned to Los Angeles, where he began working as an orchestrator for film studios, working with many notable film composers, such as Gerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein and Henry Mancini. He composed his first film score in 1958 for the B film Daddy-O. He received his first Academy Award nomination for 1967’s Valley of the Dolls, and won his first Oscar for the film score for 1971’s Fiddler on the Roof. He has been nominated for 49 Academy Awards, holding the record for most nominations by a living person (and 2nd only to Walt Disney, who had 59). He spent 13 years as the conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, succeeding legendary conductor Arthur Fiedler. He has worked as a studio musician, jazz pianist, arranger and band leader. Some of his greatest works are - Film Scores for the Star Wars movies: 1977, 1980, 1983, 1999, 2002, 2005 and 2015 - Film Score for the first 3 Harry Potter movies - Film Score for Superman - Film Score for Schindler’s List - Film Score for Jaws Who am I?______7-8 th Graders ONLY Write a few sentences on the TEXTURE (sounds) & DYNAMICS (fortissimo, forte, mezzo forte, mezzo piano, piano, pianissimo) that you hear in a song of your choice by our composer. You may use songs from the sheet, or seek out your own. Finally, tell me the FORM of the first 1:15 minutes of The Star Wars Theme!