John McCarthy (born June 27, 1961) is a Canadian composer for film and television. His music has been described as a hybrid of acoustical and electronic elements. McCarthy’s background includes extensive experience in

classical Classical may refer to: European antiquity *Classical antiquity, a period of history from roughly the 7th or 8th century B.C.E. to the 5th century C.E. centered on the Mediterranean Sea *Classical architecture, architecture derived from Greek and ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

, and world music.

Life and career

McCarthy studied at

The Royal Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto Con ...

and

Humber College The Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning, commonly known as Humber College, is a public College of Applied Arts and Technology in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1967, Humber has two main campuses: the Humber North c ...

. He has recorded and toured with many bands including Ian Hunter (Mott The Hoople) and

Frozen Ghost Frōzen Ghōst was a Canadian rock band formed in 1985 in Toronto by Arnold Lanni and Wolf Hassel, who were previously with the band Sheriff. The band received a Juno Award for " Most Promising Group of the Year" in 1987. The group placed fi ...

. McCarthy’s first film, ''

Love and Human Remains ''Love and Human Remains'' is a 1993 Canadian film directed by Denys Arcand and based on Brad Fraser's stage play '' Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love''. Fraser also wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation. The film versio ...

'', was directed by

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...

winner

Denys Arcand Georges-Henri Denys Arcand (; born June 25, 1941) is a French Canadian film director, screenwriter and producer. His film '' The Barbarian Invasions'' won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 2004. His films have also been nominated three ...

. The film is a dark comedy about a group of GenX twenty-somethings (one of whom is a serial killer) who are looking for love and meaning in a big city during the 1990s. McCarthy scored a pair of episodes of the 2015 David Shore/Vince Gilligan show ''

Battle Creek Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle Creek, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which encom ...

'' (CBS). His other work in television includes scoring the CBS series ''

Due South ''Due South'' is a Canadian crime comedy-drama television series created by Paul Haggis, and produced by Alliance Communications from its premiere on April 26, 1994, to its conclusion after four seasons on March 14, 1999. The series starred ...

'' (created by Academy Award winner

Paul Haggis Paul Edward Haggis (born March 10, 1953) is a Canadian screenwriter, film producer, and director of film and television. He is best known as screenwriter and producer for consecutive Best Picture Oscar winners ''Million Dollar Baby'' (2004) an ...

) and the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

series ''My Own Worst Enemy'', starring

Christian Slater Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut with a leading role in '' The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakthrough role as Jason "J.D." ...

. In 2010, McCarthy scored the short film ''Local Change, Global Impact''. The film was produced by the

International Peace Institute The International Peace Institute (IPI, formerly the International Peace Academy) is an independent non-profit lobby group based in New York (beside the headquarters of the United Nations, with which IPI works closely). The institute has regiona ...

, a division of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

, and narrated by

Patrick Stewart Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor who has a career spanning seven decades in various stage productions, television, film and video games. He has been nominated for Olivier, Tony, Golden Globe, Emmy, and Screen Acto ...

. McCarthy is the younger brother of actress

Sheila McCarthy Sheila McCarthy (born January 1, 1956) is a Canadian actress and singer. She has worked in film, television, and on stage. McCarthy is one of Canada's most honoured actors, having won two Genie Awards (film), two Gemini Awards (television), an ...

. They have worked together on several movies including ''

The Stone Angel ''The Stone Angel'' is a novel by Canadian writer Margaret Laurence. First published in 1964 by McClelland and Stewart, it is perhaps the best-known of Laurence's series of five novels set in the fictitious town of Manawaka, Manitoba. In paralle ...

'', ''The Possession of Michael D'', and ''Virtual Mom''.

Awards

McCarthy won the

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for sc ...

(Canadian Academy Award) in 2009 for Best Original Score for the feature film ''The Stone Angel'', starring Ellen Burstyn and directed by

Kari Skogland Kari Skogland is a Canadian filmmaker. In 2016, she co-founded independent production company Mad Rabbit. Her most recent project is the ''Falcon and the Winter Soldier'' television series for Marvel Studios. Career Skogland started as an edito ...

. In 2001, McCarthy received the Dale Melbourne Herklotz Award for Excellence in Music at the Marco Island Film Festival for ''Dischord''. In addition, McCarthy was nominated for

Gemini Awards The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...

in both 1995 and 1996 for Best Original Music Score for the television series ''Due South.''

Selected filmography

Film

* '' Anything for Jackson'' (Vortex Productions, 2020) * '' Faces in the Crowd'' (Forecast Pictures, 2011) * ''

'' (Handmade Pictures, 2007) * ''

Suspect Zero ''Suspect Zero'' is a 2004 psychological thriller film directed by E. Elias Merhige and starring Aaron Eckhart, Ben Kingsley, and Carrie-Anne Moss. The film was produced by Tom Cruise's co-owned company Cruise/Wagner Productions. It was a box of ...

'' (Paramount, 2004) * ''

Tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

'' (Universal, 2003) * ''Dischord'' (Vanguard Cinema, 2001) * '' Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal'' (Cinemax, 2001) * '' Boy Meets Girl'' (ARTO-pelli, 1998) * ''

Sweet Angel Mine ''Sweet Angel Mine'' is a 1996 thriller film directed by Curtis Radclyffe. Plot Paul, a young man from London, arrives in the small Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of ...

'' (Handmade Pictures, 1996) * ''Soul Survivor'' (Norstar, 1995) * ''

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

'' (Alliance, 1993) * ''

'' (Sony Pictures Classic, 1993)

Television

* ''

'' (CBS, 2015) * '' My Own Worst Enemy'' (NBC, 2008) * ''

Jonny Zero ''Jonny Zero'' is an American television action-crime drama series, created and written by R. Scott Gemmill and executive produced by John Wells, that premiered on Fox on January 14, 2005. The series principally stars Franky G as Jonny Calvo, a ...

'' (FOX/Warner Bros., 2005-2007) * ''

Freaky Stories ''Freaky Stories'' is a Canadian animated anthology television series, which was originally broadcast by YTV in English and Canal Famille in French (five-minute versions using the French title ''Frissons''). It is an animated show about ur ...

'' (YTV, 1997-2000) * ''

Spicy City ''Spicy City'' is an adult animated erotic cyberpunk television series which was created by Ralph Bakshi for HBO. It is an anthology series in a similar format as television programs such as ''The Twilight Zone'' and ''Tales from the Crypt''. The ...

'' (HBO, 1997) * ''

'' (CBS, 1994-1996)

TV movies

* ''

The Road to Christmas ''The Road to Christmas'' is a 2006 American made-for-television romantic comedy film directed by Mark Jean and starring Jennifer Grey, Megan Park, and Clark Gregg. Written by Judd Parkin, ''The Road to Christmas'' first aired on December 17, 2006 ...

'' (Lifetime, 2006) * '' Another Day'' (USA Network, 2001) * ''

Zebra Lounge ''Zebra Lounge'' is a 2001 erotic thriller directed by Kari Skogland and starring Kristy Swanson, Stephen Baldwin, Brandy Ledford, and Cameron Daddo. It was written by Claire Montgomery and Monte Montgomery. Plot Alan and Wendy Barnet are stuck ...

'' (HBO, 2001) * ''Virtual Mom'' (CBS/Nickelodeon, 2000) * ''

Net Worth Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Since financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, ne ...

'' (CBC, 1995) * ''The Possession of Michael D'' (Fox/Atlantis, 1995)

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCarthy, John 1961 births Living people Best Original Score Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian male composers Canadian film score composers Canadian television composers Male film score composers Musicians from Toronto