composer: Last News

The director of Marvel’s new just-in-time-for-Halloween horror special on Disney+, “Werewolf by Night,” has revealed that he had to convince studio president Kevin Feige to let him release the flick in black-and-white.

Amazon has released the song “Where the Shadows Lie” from Grammy-winning artist Fiona Apple. The track will be part of the Season 1 soundtrack and appear in the season finale of Prime’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power blasted off its PR tour at San Diego Comic-Con and it’s winding it down at New York Comic-Con with the streamer dropping a season one finale trailer, that episode dropping on Friday, Oct. 14 at 12 am EDT. A majority of the trailer has footage from the first seven episodes.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer is set to release a new double album, “Hans Zimmer Live,” in 2023. Sony Classical announced the news today as it previewed the first single(s), the three-part “Last Samurai Suite.” Zimmer’s new album features reimagined arrangements of his most iconic pieces. Among those scores getting new treatments are “The Lion King,” “The Dark Knight,” “Dunkirk” “Gladiator” and “Inception.”

Michele Amabile Angermiller British playwright, composer, songwriter actor and singer Noel Coward may have been among the first multi-hyphenates and an influencer long before there were such concepts. Coward died in 1973 at the age of 73 and will be remembered on the 50th anniversary his death with a new documentary, “Mad About The Boy — The Noel Coward Story,” due out in 2023. Contributing a cover of the title song, which was first released in 1932, is Adam Lambert, whose version — produced by Amanda Ghost and Johnny Coffer — is due out on Oct. 7. The former “American Idol” finalist and touring vocalist in Queen called Coward “an inspiration.” A committed bachelor and a gay man, Coward was the ultimate socialite who was known for his lively and spirited parties — which included such guests as the Queen Mother. Knighted in 1970, he received a Tony Award that same year. Among his stage and screen credits are “Brief Encounter,” “Blithe Spirit” and “Private Lives.”

Naman Ramachandran The life and work of Hans Zimmer, the Oscar-winning composer of “The Lion King” and “Dune: Part One,” will be celebrated in BBC Two documentary “Hans Zimmer – Hollywood Rebel.” The 60-minute film looks back at Zimmer’s 40-year journey from post-war Germany to Hollywood royalty. It will seek to reveal the musical secrets of Zimmer over a career that includes scores for films “Rain Man,” “Pirates of The Caribbean,” “Gladiator,” “No Time To Die,” “The Dark Knight,” “Batman Begins” and “The Thin Red Line” plus the music he created for BBC Studios Natural History films, including “Planet Earth II,” “Blue Planet II” and “Frozen Planet II.”

Ethan Shanfeld Cate Blanchett stunned audiences on Monday night at the New York Film Festival with her commanding performance as Lydia Tár — a fictional celebrity composer who experiences a grand fall from grace after her past comes back to haunt her. When writer-director Todd Fields premiered “Tár” last month at the Venice Film Festival, the film generated instant Oscar buzz and received a six-minute standing ovation. Now, it’s gearing up for a limited release in select theaters later this week. On the red carpet at the North American premiere of “Tár,” Blanchett spoke with Variety about the parallels between Lydia Tár’s ferocious musical ambitions and her own illustrious acting career.

Solange is a real-deal ballet composer now.

Beyonce gushed about her younger sister Solange in an Instagram post over the weekend.The 41-year-old music artist congratulated her sibling, 36, on becoming the first African American woman to compose music for the New York City Ballet.At the end of the post the longtime entertainer captioned, 'Might I suggest you don’t f*** with my sis.' Congratulatory: Beyonce gushed about her younger sister Solange in an Instagram post over the weekendThe Renaissance artist started out saying, 'My beloved sister, there are no words to express the pride and admiration I have for you.'Bey - full name Beyonce Giselle Knowles Carter - shared two photos of Solange at the prestigious event last week.  One snapshot showed the fellow musician with two large bouquets of flowers as she stood in front of a floral curtain.Another featured the younger Knowles wearing a boxy black suit as she waved outside the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center.

Marta Balaga Oscar-winning composer Rachel Portman picked up her Career Achievement Award at Zurich Film Festival on Thursday. She also gave another Golden Eye statuette to Robert IJserinkhuijsen, winner of the 10th International Film Music Competition. Portman was this year’s jury president. “She is an exceptional composer, a fine storyteller. She paints feelings with sounds. With her, longing can sound mysterious and sadness can sound like hope,” said artistic director Christian Jungen, celebrating an inspiring career in an industry “long-dominated by men.” “Her compositions are timeless, personal and yet universal,” he added.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Billy Eichner didn’t just write, produce and star in “Bros” — he also sings in it. The rom-com, in theaters now, follows the courtship between Bobby (Eichner) and the hunky lawyer Aaron (Luke Macfarlane), who meet at a launch party for a new dating app called Zellweger. Yes, named after the actress. Award-winning composer Marc Shaiman was brought on board to thread together the film’s score as the two characters stumble towards love, and out of love, and into love again.   Shaiman credits Eichner with the song idea for the big ballad of “Love Is Not Love.”

Clayton Davis Composer Hildur Guðnadóttir is already in the history books after she won the best original score Oscar for “Joker” (2019). Now, she could break a new record with two bonafide awards contenders. Todd Field’s “Tár,” a fictional psychological drama about one of the greatest living composers and conductors, has received critical acclaim after debuting at many of the fall film festivals. One of the highly praised elements was the incredible music featured in the film. However, in a movie about a composer, many casual cinema-goers were left wondering what was original or pre-purposed (unless you are an expert on musical compositions). Focus Features has confirmed to Variety exclusively that the film’s music by Guðnadóttir meets the requirement for Academy Awards and will be submitted for consideration.

The Czech composer who inspired Mozart is the subject of Il Boemo, a handsome period biopic that premiered in competition at the San Sebastian Film Festival. Written and directed by Petr Vaclav (Marian), it’s an entertaining insight into Josef Mysliveček’s music and his hedonistic lifestyle, with an operatic running time of 140 minutes. While the film is mostly in Italian, it’s the Czech entry for the International Feature race at the Academy Awards and should attract an audience of mature music lovers.

Craig Gordon wants to become Scotland ’s oldest international when the Nations League countdown concludes after turning back the clock again to reach the top table.

Solange Knowles was ready for business when she arrived at the New York City Ballet's 2022 Fall Fashion Gala on Wednesday evening.The 36-year-old musician and composer grinned proudly as she walked up to the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center while wearing a chic double-breasted suit.Solange was one of the guests of honor at the event, as she wrote the music for the gala's opening piece, making her just the second Black woman to ever compose for the New York City Ballet.

Cate Blanchett plays a celebrated composer hit with #MeToo allegations in the mysterious new trailer for her psychological drama TÁR. The new flick sees Cate in the leading role of Lydia Tár, a fictional classical music composer and EGOT winner. TÁR has already earned Cate, 53, Oscar buzz after the film premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where she won the coveted best actress award for her role in the drama.

Giving oneself over to art requires sacrifice in Todd Field’s thrilling new drama.

Jon Burlingame editor Writing new music for the “Star Wars” universe would be daunting for any composer, considering its iconic scores by the legendary John Williams. Luckily for “Andor” composer Nicholas Britell, writer-producer Tony Gilroy and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy gave him “total freedom” to imagine a new, totally unique soundscape for the backstory of Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), the rebel spy first encountered in the 2016 film “Rogue One.” So, unlike “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” the “Star Wars” series for which Williams wrote a new theme earlier this year, there isn’t a note of Williams music in “Andor,” which launched a 12-episode run last Wednesday on Disney+.

Star Wars composer John Williams is reported to have been made one of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s very last knights, with the honour one of the final awards approved by the late monarch before her death a fortnight ago.

Jessica Kiang If ever you’ve glanced into lit-up living rooms while driving down a suburban street at dusk, or glimpsed a neighbor’s apartment over their shoulder when you drop off a package, and found yourself idly wondering not just what the inhabitants’ lives are like, but what maybe your life would be like if you occupied those exotic domestic spaces — well, has mischievous Korean miniaturist Hong Sangsoo made a movie for you. “Walk Up,” the festival darling’s latest benignly sozzled, black-and-white delight, daydreams around that idea, its gentle profundity smuggled in under cover of multilevel playfulness. The movie is a play on time, on imaginative shoestring filmmaking, and on Hong’s own persona. It’s even a play on words, with its three stories sprouting out from each other over three separate stories of the same Seoul walk-up. 

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor The American French Film Festival, formerly known as COLCOA, will kick off Oct. 10 with the North American premiere of docudrama “Notre-Dame on Fire,” from “Quest for Fire” director Jean-Jacques Annaud. The weeklong festival at the DGA Theater Complex in Los Angeles closes with Dominik Moll’s thriller “The Night of the 12th,” about a cold case where the only certainty is the night it occurred. Moll will also be the focus of the festival’s annual “Focus on a Filmmaker.” “Every year, The American French Film Festival presents the very best of French cinema and television, and this year is no exception. I am personally excited about the opening night selection of Jean-Jacques Annaud’s ‘Notre-Dame on Fire’ as I think it perfectly embodies the Franco-American Cultural Fund’s mission,” said Andrea Berloff, writer and board member of the Franco-American Cultural Fund.