composer: Last News

James Galway Plays Liebermann).All told, Liebermann is one of only five classical composers to ever win a GLAMA, since the short-lived awards program became a relic of its late-1990s time period, folding after the 1999 ceremony.Interestingly, 1998 was also the year Liebermann earned his first and thus far only Grammy nomination, in recognition of his second piano concerto. (It’s hard for anyone to win in a category also featuring contemporary classical juggernaut John Adams, who scooped up his second of five career Grammys that year.)On Saturday, March 18, the New York-based composer, who is also an acclaimed pianist, will be the guest of honor at a concert by the National Chamber Ensemble.

Naman Ramachandran Superstar Rajinikanth, Bollywood star Ajay Devgn, Telugu cinema star Mahesh Babu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi were among those celebrating India’s double win at the Oscars. “Naatu Naatu” by composer M.M. Keeravaani and lyricist Chandrabose from S.S. Rajamouli’s “RRR” won best original song, while director Kartiki Gonsalves and producer Guneet Monga’s “The Elephant Whisperers” won best documentary short subject. “My hearty congratulations to Shri. Keeravani, Shri. Rajamouli and Shri. Kartiki Gonsalves for getting the prestigious Oscar Award. I salute to the proud Indians,” Rajinikanth tweeted.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic “Naatu Naatu” became the first song from a Tollywood film to win best original song at the Oscars, hoofing its way past superstars like Lady Gaga and Rihanna in India’s version of a Cinderella story. The win went to veteran composer M.M. Keeravani, who co-wrote all the songs for the film as well as its score, and lyricist Chandrabose. Their triumph followed a highly energized song-and-dance performance of “Naatu Naatu” that was, by acclamation, one of the highlights of this year’s telecast. Keeravani delighted the audience by giving much of his acceptance speech to the tune of a Carpenters classic.

German musician Volker Bertelmann nudged out the competition to pick up his first Academy Award Sunday for Netflix’s war epic All Quiet on the Western Front.

Julia MacCary editor Rihanna went from the Super Bowl to the Academy Awards this year, delivering an uplifting performance of the Oscar-nominated song “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” at Sunday’s awards show. And while by necessity she had to lip sync at her recent halftime appearance, many in the audience at the Dolby Theatre and at home were struck by the power and emotiveness of her live vocals.Rihanna performs "Lift Me Up" at the #Oscars. https://t.co/ndiKiHfmID pic.twitter.com/cyESzOZnmm “Lift Me Up” is Rihanna’s first single after a long drought of new material being released, and it earned the singer her first Oscar nod. The music was created by Rihanna, Tems, “Black Panther 2” director Ryan Coogler and composer Ludwig Göransson, with Tems and Coogler penning the lyrics. 

Jon Burlingame editor German composer Volker Bertelmann won the original score Oscar Sunday night for his music for the World War I epic “All Quiet on the Western Front.” “By working on a film like that, you are always touched,” Bertelmann said in accepting the honor, referring to the harrowing nature of the film. “Sometimes you have to make the screen very small because there are so many explosions happening.” It is Bertelmann’s first Academy Award. He was previously nominated, under his stage name Hauschka, for his music for the 2016 film “Lion” (co-composed with Dustin O’Halloran). He won the BAFTA for “All Quiet” on Feb. 19.

Singer duo Kaala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj were among the early arrivals at the 95th Academy Awards.

Rihanna is one of the nominees for Best Original Song at the 2023 Academy Awards and you can listen to and read the lyrics for “Lift Me Up” right here!

Britain’s King Charles III has been gifted a new horse, named Noble, by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as part of a long-standing royal tradition.

Michael Lockwood has filed a new petition to become the guardian ad litem of his and Lisa Marie Presley’s twin daughters amid the Presley family’s will battle, Us Weekly can confirm.

Nathy Peluso is sending a very special message to all women around the world, just in time for International Women’s Day. The Argentinian singer released a live version of her song ‘Mafiosa,’ with the purpose of empowering her fans.“We are called many things!” Peluso shared, “but there is one in which they are right! For all my mafiosas, galactic, inspiring, strong, vulnerable and enlightened women!! Today is the release of this live song.” She also revealed that she got emotional seeing her performance, “When I saw it i got teary-eyed.

A.D. Amorosi For Apple TV+’s first French-English, multi-language, adventure series “Liaison,” creator-writer Virginie Brac and Emmy-winning (“24”) director Stephen Hopkins chose evocative composer Walter Mair – known for commercials, video games and compositional elements and arrangements for Netflix’s “Squid Games” – to bring a mix of electronic and live instrumentation to its war-torn, lovelorn storyline. Creating a tensely menacing and intricate score for an emotional tale starring Vincent Cassel (who also serves as executive producer) and Eva Green gives the six-episode thriller an epic, yet intimate sweep. Mair’s textural feel for frenetic movement and incendiary intrigue found the composer utilizing writing and orchestrating skills familiar from his battle work on violent video games such as Rockstar’s “Grand Theft Auto” series, Sony’s sci-fi franchise “Killzone,” and “Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction.”

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Classical music lovers will no longer have to proceed past touts for the latest pop hits on their way to streaming their genre of choice, at least not on Apple Music. The service announced Thursday that it has created a separate app, Apple Music Classical, that will kick off March 28, offering access to more than five million tracks in lossless audio. A subscription to Apple Music will still be required for this new app, which will be available at the end of the month for iPhone models running iOS 15.4 or later. An Android version will be on the way at some point later. Existing Apple users will not pay anything additional for Apple Music Classical. The new service can be pre-ordered at Apple’s app store now and will automatically download upon the March 28 launch.

Zoe Hewitt When it comes to any entertainment industry production, whether it’s a tentpole film or an independent commercial, creative choices must vie against the ever-important bottom line. Working in a state with tax incentive programs means productions can have the best of both worlds. In Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker just signed a 10-year extension for the state’s film-friendly tax incentive program, which guarantees productions 30% back on eligible expenses through Jan. 1, 2033. The credit was recently expanded to include eligibility for nine key positions for non-residents: director, writer, DP, production designer, costume designer, production accountant, visual-effects supervisor, editor and composer.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor ASCAP, the only remaining not-for-profit performing rights organization in the U.S., announced that its 2022 annual revenue surpassed $1.5 billion for the first time, which fueled record royalty distributions to ASCAP’s songwriter, composer and music publisher members. Collections totaled $1.522 billion in 2022, an increase of $187 million or 14% over the previous year. According to the announcement, ASCAP’s strategic growth plan, launched in 2015, has resulted in a 6% compound annual growth rate for total revenues, and a 7% compound annual growth rate for total distributions to members.

K.J. Yossman Mercury Studios, the production company behind recent Abbey Road Studios doc “If These Walls Could Sing,” have unveiled their new feature, about composer Felix Mendelssohn’s genius sister Fanny. Although Felix, who is best known for writing “The Wedding March,” is still world-renowned 175 years after his death, his sister Fanny was also a prolific musician, composing 450 works – including her own wedding music – before she died in her early 40s. “Fanny: The Other Mendelssohn” tells her story. Sheila Hayman (“Mendelssohn, The Nazis and Me”) directs the doc, which also stars classical artist Isata Kanneh-Mason bringing Mendelssohn’s works to life. Filming has taken place in Berlin, New York, London, Oxford and Buckingham Palace, where Kanneh-Mason played Queen Victoria’s piano.

DEALSWise Music Group has announced one of those global exclusive publishing agreements between its Chester Music business and British-Indian-American musician Anoushka Shankar. “Anoushka Shankar is a multi-faceted talent with huge potential in global media markets as well on the world’s greatest stages”, says CEO Marcus Wise.

Selome Hailu CAA has signed the popular children’s singer Ms. Rachel, as well as her YouTube show and educational brand “Songs for Littles,” for representation in all areas. The “Songs for Littles” YouTube channel has produced educational videos for babies and toddlers that are designed to encourage language development and milestones through play, research-based techniques, nursery rhymes and songs. Rachel Griffin Accurso, aka Ms. Rachel, co-founded “Songs for Littles” along with her husband, Aron Accurso, aka Mr. Aron. The husband and wife duo was inspired after learning that their own son had a speech delay and struggling to find entertainment material that would help support his language development.

John Carpenter has shared a list of his favourite films of all time.The director, known for making horror classics like 1978’s Halloween and The Thing, revealed his picks for the greatest films ever in a poll for Sight And Sound magazine.Since 1952, the magazine has asked filmmakers every decade for their lists of the greatest films of all time. As part of the Winter 2022-23 issue, directors including Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson and Barry Jenkins were invited to contribute.Carpenter’s list ranges from gangster classics to epic westerns. You can check out his list of favourite films below.1. Only Angels Have Wings (1939)2. Campandas A Medianoche (1966)3. Rio Bravo (1958)4. Le Charme Discret De La Bourgeoisie (1972)5. Chinatown (1974)6. Bringing Up Baby (1938)7. The Searchers (1956)8. The Exterminating Angel (1962)9. Scarface (1932)10. Vertigo (1958)The director’s top pick, Only Angels Have Wings, is directed by Howard Hawks.

The Lathums are on track to secure their second UK Number 1 album with From Nothing to a Little Bit More.  

Oscars. Following the broadcast tribute, more than 200 filmmakers, artists and executives will feature in an extended photo gallery on A.frame, the Academy’s digital magazine. Executive producers and showrunners Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner and executive producer Molly McNearney announced the music icon’s participation. With a resume that includes 11 studio albums that have sold over 40 million copies worldwide, Kravitz has also appeared in various film and television projects such as “The Hunger Games,” “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” and “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire.”