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John Towner Williams (born in New York, February 8, 1932) is one of the most widely recognized composers of film scores. He is often credited with the revival of the symphonic film score with his brassy themes for the Star Wars series, which include " The Imperial March" and " Duel of the Fates" and are probably his most famous and recognisable work. Among his composing credits are:
He wrote the scores for several TVSee TV (disambiguation) for other uses and Television (band) for the rock band Television is a telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving moving pictures and sound over a distance. The term has come to refer to all the aspects of television p shows, including Gilligan's IslandGilligan's Island was an American TV sitcom which aired on CBS from 1964 to 1967. Early episodes were filmed in black-and-white; later episodes in color. The show's theme song, "The Ballad of Gilligan's Island" begins: Just sit right back and you'll hear, Lost in SpaceSee also Lost in Space (disambiguation Lost in Space is a science fiction TV series produced between 1965 and 1968 by television producer Irwin Allen. Allen based his space adventure series on a Gold Key comic book, Space Family Robinson as well as the cl and NBC Nightly News. Williams often works with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas and has been nominated for 42 Academy Awards, of which he has won five (for Star Wars, Fiddler on the Roof, Jaws, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Schindler's List). He currently holds the record for the most oscar nominations for a living person. If Walt Disney is not counted as gaining a nomination every time Disney gets one, John Williams is the most nominated person in Academy Awards history.
In 1948, John Williams and his family moved to Los Angeles, where he attended UCLA (the University of California in Los Angeles). He also studied composition privately with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, who was also taught another great film score composer: Jerry Goldsmith.
Later, and after service in the Air Force, John Williams returned to New York. There he went to the famous Juilliard School, one of the most well known music schools in America (Other famous alumni include Philip Glass and Itzhak Perlman). There he had piano lessons with Rosina Lhevinne . In New York, he worked as a jazz pianist.
Then he went back to Los Angeles, where he started working in the film studios. There he worked with some of the finest film score composers of that time: Franz Waxman, Bernard Herrmann and Alfred Newman. He began his career composing TV scores.
From 1980 to 1993, he was principal conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra. He still has close ties with the Pops and the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), which have much overlap and both perform out of Boston's Symphony Hall. He conducts several concerts with the Boston Pops every year, particularly during their Holiday Pops season. He also frequently enlists the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, the official chorus of the BSO, to sing choral music in his movie scores (such as Saving Private Ryan).
Williams has written various concert works, including concerti for flute, violin, trumpet and tuba.
He is an accomplished pianist, as can be heard in various scores in which he provides solos, as well as a handful of classical recordings.
Apart from the five Oscars he has won, Williams has also been the recipient of at least two Emmys and seventeen Grammies.