John Massari (born March 25, 1957) is an American composer and sound designer. He is perhaps best known for scoring the cult classic '' Killer Klowns from Outer Space''.

Biography

Giovanni Massari was born on March 25, 1957, in New York City. Film music's powerful influence drew him to explore creating original music at age six as he began training on piano, trumpet and contra bass. Massari studied musical composition at

Chapman University Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California, United States. Encompassing eleven colleges, the university is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". The school maintains its foundi ...

and later 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 ...

(UCLA), where he studied orchestration and composition with

David Raksin David Raksin (August 4, 1912 – August 9, 2004) was an American composer who was noted for his work in film and television. Raksin had more than 100 film scores and 300 television scores to his credit. Some sources called him the "Grandfather of ...

and

Henri Lazarof Henri Lazarof (Bulgarian language, Bulgarian: Хенри Лазаров) (April 12, 1932 – December 29, 2013) was a Bulgarian-American composer. Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, his formal musical training began in Israel under Paul Ben-Haim. After a sh ...

. He also studied with Albert Harris and earned the Frank Sinatra Music Award for composition. Massari scored the cult film '' Killer Klowns from Outer Space'' in 1988. Originally composed entire for synthesizers for budgetary reasons, the composer later recorded and released an orchestral version of the music through

Varèse Sarabande Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and cast recording, original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as ...

in 2018; fellow film composer

Bear McCreary Bear McCreary (born February 17, 1979) is an American composer of film, television, and video game scores. His work includes the scores of the television series '' Battlestar Galactica'' (2004), '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'', '' Black Sails'', '' ...

made a guest appearance on the album, performing the

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

and

hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-turned crank, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin (or nyckelharpa) bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar ...

. Massari returned to the franchise again to compose the score for ''Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game'' in 2024. Massari also scored and acted in the 1988 film ''

The Wizard of Speed and Time ''The Wizard of Speed and Time'' is a 1988 American feature film written by, directed by, and starring animator Mike Jittlov, as well as a 1979 16 mm short film, also by Jittlov. 1979 short film In the original short film, a young man in a gre ...

'', in addition to composing the theme for ''

The Ray Bradbury Theater ''The Ray Bradbury Theatre'' is an anthology series that ran for three seasons on Crave (TV network), First Choice Movie Central, Superchannel in Canada and HBO in the United States from 1985 to 1986, and then on USA Network, running for four ad ...

'' in 1985. His other credits include ''

The Cell 2 ''The Cell 2 '' is a 2009 direct-to-video sequel to the 2000 film '' The Cell''. Directed by Tim Iacofano and written by Lawerence Silverstein, Alex Barder and Rob Rinow, the movie is similar in themes as the original, about an investigator who mu ...

'', ''

Retro Puppet Master ''Retro Puppet Master'' (also known as ''Retro Puppetmaster'') is a 1999 American direct-to-video horror film written by Charles Band, Benjamin Carr and David Schmoeller, and directed by David DeCoteau (as Joseph Tennent). It is the seventh film ...

'', and '' Prison Break: Proof of Innocence''.

Filmography

* ''Little House on the Prairie'' (1982–1983) * ''Hart to Hart'' (1982) * ''The Ray Bradbury Theater'' (Theme; 1985–1992) * ''Jonny Quest'' (1987) * ''The Wonderful World of Disney'' (1987) * ''

'' (1988) * '' Killer Klowns from Outer Space'' (1988) * ''Monsters'' (1988-1990) * '' Snake Eater'' (1989) * '' Snake Eater II: The Drug Buster'' (1990) * ''

Steel and Lace ''Steel and Lace'' is a 1991 science fiction action film directed by Ernest D. Farino and starring Clare Wren, Bruce Davison, Stacy Haiduk, David Naughton, and Michael Cerveris. Plot Gaily Morton, a classical concert pianist, is raped by busine ...

'' (1991) * ''

Diplomatic Immunity Diplomatic immunity is a principle of international law by which certain foreign government officials are recognized as having legal immunity from the jurisdiction of another country.

'' (1991) * ''The Big Sweat'' (1991) * ''Dogs Bark Blue'' (1992) * '' Snake Eater III: His Law'' (1992) * ''Death Ring'' (1992) * ''Time Machine: The Journey Back'' (1993) * ''The Making of '...And God Spoke (1993) * ''

Kickboxer 5 ''Redemption: Kickboxer 5'' (stylized on-screen as ''The Redemption'') is a 1995 American direct-to-video martial arts film starring Mark Dacascos Mark Alan Dacascos (born February 26, 1964) is an American actor, martial artist and televisi ...

'' (1995) * ''The Redemption'' (1995) * ''Shooting Lily'' (1996) * ''Skeletons'' (HBO TV movie) (1997) * ''Retro Puppet Master'' (1999) * ''Final Stab'' (1999) * ''Breathing Hard'' (2000) * ''Ronny Camaro and Seven Angry Women'' (2003) * '' Speed Demon'' (2003) * '' 24: Conspiracy'' (TV series short) (2005) * ''L. Frank Baum: The Man Behind the Curtain'' (2005) * ''Ray Harryhausen: The Early Years Collection'' (2005) * ''The Shield: Breaking Episode 315'' (2005) * ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Storybook'' (2005) * ''

Ring Around the Rosie "Ring a Ring o' Roses", also known as "Ring a Ring o' Rosie" or "Ring Around the Rosie", is a nursery rhyme, folk song, and playground game. Descriptions first appeared in the mid-19th century, though it is reported to date from decades ...

'' (2006) * ''Astaire and Rogers: Partners in Rhythm'' (2006) * ''Tinker Bell: A Fairy's Tale'' (2007) * ''Requiem & Rebirth: Superman Lives!'' (2007) * '' Veritas, Prince of Truth'' (2007) * ''Stem Cell'' (2009) * ''From The Dark'' (2009) * ''

'' (2009) * ''American Pickers'' (2010) * ''The Devil's Gravestone'' (2010) * ''Trek Nation'' (2010) * ''Game of Assassins'' (2013) * ''The Wonderful World of Disney Theme'' (1988) * ''Secret Lives of Stepford Wives'' (2014) * ''Thrill Kill'' (2015)

References

External links

*
John Massari
on

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

John Massari
on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Massari, John 1957 births American film score composers American male film score composers Living people