Aaron Zigman (born January 6, 1963) is a classically trained American composer, producer, arranger, songwriter, and musician who has scored music for films including '' The Notebook'', '' The Company Men'', '' Bridge to Terabithia'', '' John Q.'', '' The Proposal'', '' Flicka'', ''

For Colored Girls ''For Colored Girls'' is a 2010 American drama film adapted from Ntozake Shange's 1975 original choreopoem '' for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf''. Written, directed and co-produced by Tyler Perry, the film ...

'', ''

Flash of Genius In United States patent law, the flash of genius doctrine was a test for patentability used by the United States Federal Courts for just over a decade, beginning circa 1940. Origin The doctrine was formalized by the Supreme Court's opinion in '' ...

'', '' Sex & the City,

Alpha Dog ''Alpha Dog'' is a 2006 American crime drama film written and directed by Nick Cassavetes. It is based on the true story of the kidnapping and murder of Nicholas Markowitz in 2000. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Ben Foste ...

,'' and ''

Escape from Planet Earth ''Escape from Planet Earth'' is a 2013 animated comedy-adventure science fiction film produced by Rainmaker Entertainment (now Mainframe Studios) and distributed by The Weinstein Company in the United States and Entertainment One in Canada, ...

''. He has also written, arranged and produced over 50 hit albums, and co-written songs with legendary and contemporary artists including

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...

, Phil Collins, Was (Not Was),

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Every ...

, Dionne Warwick,

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

, Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, and

Seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

Early life and career

Zigman was born in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. His mother, a pianist and harpist, was his first music teacher, and he developed an early interest in jazz and concert music, studying with Rocky Slight, Gene Hartwell (a San Diego jazz player), and Florence Stephenson. A graduate of Point Loma High School, he studied at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. While still in college, Zigman had a contract with Almo/Irving Music Publishing, wrote songs for

Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Billboard Hot 100, top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation (song), Anticipatio ...

and the television show ''Fame'', and co-wrote with David Lasley, Jerry Knight, and

Steve Cropper Steven Lee Cropper (born October 21, 1941), sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He was the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as ...

. In 1983, he began studying with his cousin George Bassman (who orchestrated '' The Wizard of Oz'' and wrote the music for the films ''Marty'' and '' The Postman Always Rings Twice''). Bassman had also penned the

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombone, trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-to ...

Classic, "Getting Sentimental Over You", was the musical arranger for

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years and covered film, television and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of the C ...

and

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...

, and orchestrated for Andre Kostelanetz. In the 1980s, Zigman began to make a name for himself as a studio musician and wrote the pop music hits "Crush On You", "Curiosity", and "Private Number", top chart records for The Jets. He then worked for

Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 1 ...

, and produced and arranged for

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

and

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to prominence in the mid-1970s, with the release of her debut ...

. During this time he wrote, arranged, and produced songs for many of the top singers and artists in the industry such as

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick ( ; born Marie Dionne Warrick; December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. During her career, Warwick has won many awards, including six Grammy Awards. She has been inducted into the Hollywood Wa ...

Boz Scaggs William Royce "Boz" Scaggs (born June 8, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was a bandmate of Steve Miller (musician), Steve Miller in the Ardells in the early 1960s and a member of the Steve Miller Band from 1967 to 196 ...

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...

, the Pointer Sisters, Jermaine Stewart, Huey Lewis, Jennifer Holliday,

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singer and actress. She has been referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godmother of Soul". LaBelle began ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and

. In the 1990s, he entered the film industry, with his producing, arranging, orchestration, and pianistic work being featured on soundtracks for ''

Mulan Hua Mulan () is a legendary Chinese folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century Common Era, CE) of Chinese history. Scholar, Scholars generally consider Mulan to be a fictional character. Hua Mulan is depicte ...

'', '' What's Love Got to Do With It?'', '' The Birdcage'', ''

Licence to Kill ''Licence to Kill'' is a 1989 spy film, the sixteenth in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the second and final film to star Timothy Dalton as the MI6 agent James Bond (literary character), J ...

'', and ''

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, also known as Matoaka and Rebecca Rolfe; 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. S ...

''. His first film score was for the 2002 film '' John Q.'', which won a BMI Film Music Award. This led to his first major television score, for the 2004 Showtime production ''Crown Heights'', and to his first film score for a major motion picture '' The Notebook'', for which he won multiple BMI Awards. In March 2020,

Billie Eilish Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell ( ; born December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single "Ocean Eyes (song), Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her broth ...

revealed 32 songs which inspired her Grammy-winning album '' When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go?.'' "Jesse's Bridge," a song composed by Zigman from his soundtrack for the Disney movie Bridge to Terabithia, was listed as one of the inspirations for Eilish's ILOMILO.

Concert music

Zigman has composed both chamber and full orchestral works on commission, including a viola sonata; a 1994 tone poem ''Rabin: An Orchestral Work in Five Movements'' (premiered at Los Angeles' Westside Pavilion on December 25, 1997, repeated in Spring 1999 by the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony under the direction of Noreen Green in memory of Yitzhak Rabin, and recorded live on the Bernard Milken Jewish Community Campus in March 1999); ''Martyrology: A Tribute to Those Who Have Died in the Face of Persecution''; ''Impressions'', a 2004 suite for wind ensemble (premiered by Richard Todd and the USC Symphony Orchestra); ''Vis Vitae'' (mixed octet, featured at the historic Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church on Rodeo Drive as part of the "Voices of Hollywood" concert at the Third Annual Beverly Hills International Music Festival in 2006 and in Zigman's score for ''Flash of Genius''; ''No Strings Attached'', a 2007 horn sextet for Brian O' Connor (1951–2016) at UCLA; and a ''Rhapsody for Cello and Piano'' (premiered/recorded in 2015 by Andrew Shulman and Robert Thies). His vocal music includes a setting of ''Shir L'Shalom'' (also recorded live on the Bernard Milken Jewish Community Campus in March 1999); two ''Ave Maria'' vocalises (one written with bassist Abraham Laboriel Sr., composed as the main title song for the film ''Virgin of Juarez'' and one written for the main title song of the film ''John Q'', featuring Joshua Bell on violin); an Emmy Award-winning setting of the Hebrew prayer for peace''Sim Shalom'' (from the Showtime TV film ''Crown Heights'', with Alex Brown); and an Italian aria with chorus (''La Donna in Viola,'' setting a translation of Ntozake Shange's poem "Pyramid", for 3 soprano soloists and SSAAT choir, also featuring Joshua Bell) featured in the film ''For Colored Girls'' (2009–2010). For the soundtrack for the 2016 dramatic film ''Wakefield'', French classical pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet contributed piano work to Zigman's film score. This was the first time another pianist performed his film work. Zigman had first visited Beijing while working on the film score for Chinese movie ''Hidden Man'', directed by Wen Jiang. ''Hidden Man'' was China's entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards. The ''Tango Manos'' concerto project was suggested to Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Aaron Zigman by Yu Long, conductor and Chairman of the Beijing Music Festival. Zigman created a three-movement concerto for piano and orchestra, dedicating it to Thibaudet, who premiered the work under Huang Yi's direction with the China Philharmonic at the Beijing Music Festival, October 14, 2019. Zigman attended the October 13, 2019 press conference for the 22nd Beijing Music Festival in Beijing, China. ''Tango Manos'' was one of three works written for the Beijing Music Festival, co-commissioned by the China Philharmonic, Radio France and the San Francisco Symphony. The event was of cultural significance, taking place in Jingshan Park, in front of Shouhuang Hall. Jean-Yves Thibaudet played the US premiere of ''Tango Manos'' with the San Francisco Symphony in a multi-concert series under the direction of Fabien Gabel, beginning on February 14, 2020. The work was a National Finalist for the American Prize in Composition (Professional Division, Orchestral Works). Zigman's ''Rhapsody for Cello and Piano'' will be premiered in the Baker-Baum Concert Hall at the La Jolla Music Society by Alisa Weilerstein and Inon Barnatan on August 15, 2021. Zigman collaborated with Yu Long once more on the oratorio '' Émigré''. ''Émigré'' premiered in Shanghai on November 17, 2023, and had its US premiere on February 29, 2024. A recording was made by

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

and released on February 2.

Filmography

Film

2000s

2010s

2020s

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zigman, Aaron 1963 births Living people 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American composers 21st-century American male musicians American film score composers American male film score composers American television composers American male television composers Musicians from San Diego Point Loma High School alumni Record producers from California Songwriters from California University of California, Los Angeles alumni Varèse Sarabande Records artists