Alan Anthony Silvestri (born March 26, 1950) is an American composer, conductor, orchestrator and music producer of film scores. He has received two

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

and two

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

as well as nominations for two

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

and two

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...

. He has been associated with director

Robert Zemeckis Robert Lee Zemeckis (born May 14, 1952) is an American filmmaker known for directing and producing a range of successful and influential movies, often blending cutting-edge visual effects with storytelling. He has received several accolades incl ...

since 1984, composing music for nearly all of his feature films, including the ''Back to the Future'' film series (1985–1990), ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' by Gary K. Wol ...

'' (1988), ''

Death Becomes Her ''Death Becomes Her'' is a 1992 American satirical surrealistic black comedy fantasy film directed and produced by Robert Zemeckis and written by David Koepp and Martin Donovan. The film stars Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, Bruce Willis, a ...

'' (1992), ''

Forrest Gump ''Forrest Gump'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis. An adaptation of the Forrest Gump (novel), 1986 novel by Winston Groom, the screenplay of the film is written by Eric Roth. It stars Tom Hanks in the title rol ...

'' (1994), '' Contact'' (1997), '' What Lies Beneath'' (2000), '' Cast Away'' (2000), '' The Polar Express'' (2004), ''

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translat ...

'' (2007), ''

Flight Flight or flying is the motion (physics), motion of an Physical object, object through an atmosphere, or through the vacuum of Outer space, space, without contacting any planetary surface. This can be achieved by generating aerodynamic lift ass ...

'' (2012) and '' The Walk'' (2015). Silvestri also scored many other popular movies, including ''

Predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

'' (1987), '' The Abyss'' (1989), '' Father of the Bride'' (1991), '' The Bodyguard'' (1992), '' Eraser'' (1996), '' The Parent Trap'' (1998), '' Stuart Little'' (1999), '' The Mummy Returns'' (2001), '' Lilo & Stitch'' (2002), '' Van Helsing'' (2004), '' Night at the Museum'' trilogy, '' G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra'' (2009), ''

The A-Team ''The A-Team'' is an American Action television, action television series that ran on NBC from January 23, 1983, to March 8, 1987, about a fictional team of former United States Army Special Forces who work as mercenaries while on the run from ...

'' (2010), '' Ready Player One'' (2018), and several

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...

films, including the '' Avengers'' films.

Early life and education

Silvestri was born March 26, 1950. His grandparents emigrated in 1909 from the Italian town of Castell'Alfero, and settled in

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. The town is know for their pancake throwing contest held ...

. He grew up in Teaneck, and graduated in 1968 from Teaneck High School. He attended

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

for two years. He was a drummer for a short time in 1966 with Teaneck-based rock band the Wildcats.

Career

Silvestri moved to Los Angeles in 1970. "I came to Hollywood in 1970 broke.... I didn't even have any goals or plans. I didn't even go to movies. And I knew nothing about composers or composing," he said. In 1972, while he was working intermittently as a session guitarist, the producer of the low-budget action film '' The Doberman Gang'' asked him to score the picture. Silvestri agreed, despite a lack of experience: "I went out and bought a how-to-compose book by Earl Hagen.... At one point, I was using beer cans for percussion." From 1978 to 1983, Silvestri was the main composer for the television series '' CHiPs'', writing music for 95 of the show's 139 episodes. Silvestri met film director

when they worked together on Zemeckis's film '' Romancing the Stone'' (1984). Since then, he has composed the music for all of Zemeckis's movies, including the ''Back to the Future'' trilogy (1985–1990), ''

'' (1988), ''

'' (1992), ''

'' (1994), '' Contact'' (1997), '' Cast Away'' (2000), '' The Polar Express'' (2004), ''

'' (2007), ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...

'' (2009), ''

'' (2012), and '' The Walk'' (2015). In 1989, Silvestri composed the score for the James Cameron-directed film '' The Abyss''. Since 2001, he has also collaborated regularly with director Stephen Sommers, scoring the films '' The Mummy Returns'' (2001), '' Van Helsing'' (2004), and '' G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra'' (2009). He also composed the

ImageMovers ImageMovers, L.L.C. (IM) (formerly known as South Side Amusement Company), is an American production company which produces CGI animation, motion-capture, live-action films and television shows. The company is known for producing such films as ' ...

opening theme. Silvestri has composed the scores for four

films: '' Captain America: The First Avenger'' (2011), '' The Avengers'' (2012), '' Avengers: Infinity War'' (2018), and '' Avengers: Endgame'' (2019) and is currently scheduled to compose the scores for '' Avengers: Doomsday'' and '' Avengers: Secret Wars''. His themes and motifs from those films have been referenced and reprised by other composers in multiple other MCU films. Silvestri has also composed music for television series, including '' T. J. Hooker'' (one episode), ''

Starsky & Hutch ''Starsky & Hutch'' is an American action television series, which consisted of a 72-minute pilot movie (originally aired as a '' Movie of the Week'' entry) and 92 episodes of 50 minutes each. The show was created by William Blinn (inspired ...

'' (three episodes), and '' Tales from the Crypt'' (seven episodes). In 2014, he composed the award-winning music for the science documentary series '' Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey''. He wrote new songs with

Glen Ballard Basil Glen Ballard Jr. (born May 1, 1953) is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer. He is best known for co-writing and producing on Wilson Phillips' debut and sophomore albums, '' Wilson Phillips'' and '' Shadows and Light'', ...

for the live-action/CGI film adaptation of Disney's ''

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel, ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a poor man named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

''.

Personal life

Silvestri and his wife Sandra own a vineyard, Silvestri Vineyards, in

Carmel Valley, California Carmel Valley is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community in Monterey County, California, United States. The term "Carmel Valley" generally refers to the Carmel River (California), Carmel River watershed east of California ...

. He also has a wine tasting room for his vineyards on the ground floor of the Enchanted Oaks Building. He has a daughter and two sons. A licensed pilot, he flies his own jet aircraft.

Filmography

Film - 1970s and 1980s

Film - 1990s

Film - 2000s

Film - 2010s

Film - 2020s

Television

Awards and nominations

Silvestri has received two

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

nominations: Best Original Score for ''

'' (1994); and Best Original Song for " Believe" on '' The Polar Express''

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

. He also received two

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...

nominations: Best Score for ''Forrest Gump'' and Best Song for ''The Polar Express''. Silvestri received an honorary Doctorate of Music from

in 1995. He has also received nine Grammy Award nominations, winning two awards: Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for "Believe" from ''The Polar Express'' in 2004; and Best Instrumental Composition for "Cast Away End Credits" from Cast Away in 2002. His other nominations were for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special and Best Instrumental Composition, for Back to the Future in 1985, Best Album of Original Instrumental Background Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television, for Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988, Best Instrumental Composition, for "Who Framed Roger Rabbit Suite" in 1989, Best Pop Instrumental Performance, for "I'm Forrest...Forrest Gump (The Feather Theme)" in 1994, Best Instrumental Composition, for Avengers: Infinity War in 2018, and Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media, for Avengers: Endgame in 2019. During the 2005 Grammy Awards, Josh Groban performed "Believe". He has won two Emmys, both for '' Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey'' – Outstanding Main Title Theme Music and Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for the episode " Standing Up in the Milky Way". He has won the Saturn Award for Best Music three times, for his scores for ''

'' (1987), '' Back to the Future Part III'' (1989/90), and '' Van Helsing'' (2004). On September 23, 2011, he received the Max Steiner Film Music Achievement Award from the City of

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

the yearly film-music gala concert Hollywood in Vienna.

References

External links

* * *
Alan Silvestri
at Soundtrackguide.net
Castell'Alfero (Italy) country of Asti of which it is City Honorarium
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Silvestri, Alan 1950 births 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American classical composers 20th-century American classical pianists 21st-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American classical composers 21st-century American classical pianists American conductors (music) American contemporary classical composers American film score composers American male classical composers American male classical pianists American male conductors (music) American male film score composers American male television composers American people of Italian descent American television composers Animated film score composers Berklee College of Music alumni Classical musicians from New Jersey Decca Records artists Hollywood Records artists Grammy Award winners Living people Primetime Emmy Award winners Teaneck High School alumni Varèse Sarabande Records artists