Alan Silvestri | |
|---|---|
 Silvestri in 2009 | |
| Born | Alan Anthony Silvestri (1950-03-26)March 26, 1950 (age 75) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1972–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | www |
Alan Anthony Silvestri (born March 26, 1950) is an American composer, conductor, orchestrator and music producer of film scores. He has received twoGrammy Awards and twoPrimetime Emmy Awards as well as nominations for twoAcademy Awards and twoGolden Globe Awards.
He has been associated with directorRobert Zemeckis since 1984, composing music for nearly all of his feature films, including theBack to the Future film series (1985–1990),Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988),Death Becomes Her (1992),Forrest Gump (1994),Contact (1997),What Lies Beneath (2000),Cast Away (2000),The Polar Express (2004),Beowulf (2007),Flight (2012) andThe Walk (2015).
Silvestri also scored many other popular movies, includingPredator (1987),The Abyss (1989),Father of the Bride (1991),The Bodyguard (1992),Eraser (1996),The Parent Trap (1998),Practical Magic (1998),Stuart Little (1999),The Mummy Returns (2001),Lilo & Stitch (2002),Van Helsing (2004),Night at the Museum trilogy,G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009),The A-Team (2010),Ready Player One (2018), and severalMarvel Cinematic Universe films, including theAvengers films.
Silvestri was born March 26, 1950.[1] His grandparents emigrated in 1909 from the Italian town ofCastell'Alfero, and settled inTeaneck, New Jersey.[2] He grew up in Teaneck,[3] and graduated in 1968 fromTeaneck High School.[4] He attendedBerklee College of Music for two years. He was a drummer for a short time in 1966 with Teaneck-based rock band the Wildcats.
Silvestri moved to Los Angeles in 1970.
"I came to Hollywood in 1970 broke.... I didn't even have any goals or plans. I didn't even go to movies. And I knew nothing about composers or composing," he said.[5]
In 1972, while he was working intermittently as asession guitarist, the producer of the low-budget action filmThe Doberman Gang asked him to score the picture. Silvestri agreed, despite a lack of experience: "I went out and bought a how-to-compose book byEarl Hagen.... At one point, I was using beer cans for percussion."[5]
From 1978 to 1983, Silvestri was the main composer for the television seriesCHiPs, writing music for 95 of the show's 139 episodes.
Silvestri met film directorRobert Zemeckis when they worked together on Zemeckis's filmRomancing the Stone (1984). Since then, he has composed the music for all of Zemeckis's movies, including theBack to the Future trilogy (1985–1990),Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988),Death Becomes Her (1992),Forrest Gump (1994),Contact (1997),Cast Away (2000),The Polar Express (2004),Beowulf (2007),A Christmas Carol (2009),Flight (2012), andThe Walk (2015).
In 1989, Silvestri composed the score for the James Cameron-directed filmThe Abyss. Since 2001, he has also collaborated regularly with directorStephen Sommers, scoring the filmsThe Mummy Returns (2001),Van Helsing (2004), andG.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009). He also composed theImageMovers opening theme.
Silvestri has composed the scores for fourMarvel Cinematic Universe films:Captain America: The First Avenger (2011),The Avengers (2012),Avengers: Infinity War (2018), andAvengers: Endgame (2019) and is currently scheduled to compose the scores forAvengers: Doomsday andAvengers: Secret Wars. His themes and motifs from those films have beenreferenced and reprised by other composers in multiple other MCU films.
Silvestri has also composed music for television series, includingT. J. Hooker (one episode),Starsky & Hutch (three episodes), andTales from the Crypt (seven episodes). In 2014, he composed the award-winning music for the science documentary seriesCosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. He wrote new songs withGlen Ballard for the live-action/CGI film adaptation of Disney'sPinocchio.[6]
Silvestri and his wife Sandra own a vineyard, Silvestri Vineyards, inCarmel Valley, California.[7] He also has a wine tasting room for his vineyards on the ground floor of theEnchanted Oaks Building.[8] He has a daughter and two sons. He is a licensed pilot, and he flies his own jet aircraft.[9]
| Year | Title | Director | Studio | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | The Witches | Robert Zemeckis | ImageMovers Necropia Entertainment Esperanto Filmoj Double Dare You Productions Warner Bros. | — |
| 2022 | Pinocchio | ImageMovers Depth of Field Walt Disney Pictures Disney+ | Also lyricist, conductor and orchestrator | |
| 2024 | Here | Miramax ImageMovers Playtone Sony Pictures Releasing | — | |
| 2025 | The Electric State | Anthony & Joe Russo | Netflix AGBO Skybound Entertainment | Also conductor ReplacedSteve Jablonsky |
| Lilo & Stitch | Dean Fleischer Camp | Walt Disney Pictures Rideback | Themes only; score composed byDan Romer | |
| The Fantastic Four: First Steps | Matt Shakman | Marvel Studios Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Mid-Credits scene only; score composed byMichael Giacchino | |
| Play Dirty | Shane Black | Team Downey Modern Pictures Big Indie Pictures Amazon MGM Studios | — | |
| 2026 | Avengers: Doomsday | Anthony & Joe Russo | Marvel Studios AGBO Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | — |
| 2027 | Avengers: Secret Wars | — |
| Year | Title | Channel | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978–1979 | Starsky & Hutch | ABC | 3 episodes |
| 1978–1983 | CHiPs | NBC | 95 episodes |
| 1983 | Manimal | 5 episodes | |
| T. J. Hooker | ABC –CBS | Episode: "A Child Is Missing" | |
| 1986 | Amazing Stories | NBC | Episode: "Go to the Head of Class" |
| 1989–1995 | Tales from the Crypt | HBO | 7 episodes |
| 1991–1992 | Back to the Future | CBS | Theme only |
| 2014 | Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey | Fox /National Geographic Channel | 13 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (for "Standing Up in the Milky Way") Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music |
| 2020 | Cosmos: Possible Worlds | 13 episodes |
Silvestri has received twoAcademy Award nominations:Best Original Score forForrest Gump (1994); andBest Original Song for "Believe" onThe Polar Expresssoundtrack. He also received twoGolden Globe nominations: Best Score forForrest Gump and Best Song forThe Polar Express. Silvestri received an honorary Doctorate of Music fromBerklee College of Music in 1995.[10]
He has also received nine Grammy Award nominations, winning two awards: Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for "Believe" fromThe Polar Express in 2004; and Best Instrumental Composition for "Cast Away End Credits" fromCast Away in 2002. His other nominations were for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special and Best Instrumental Composition, for Back to the Future in 1985, Best Album of Original Instrumental Background Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television, for Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988, Best Instrumental Composition, for "Who Framed Roger Rabbit Suite" in 1989, Best Pop Instrumental Performance, for "I'm Forrest...Forrest Gump (The Feather Theme)" in 1994, Best Instrumental Composition, for Avengers: Infinity War in 2018, and Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media, for Avengers: Endgame in 2019.[11] During the 2005 Grammy Awards,Josh Groban performed "Believe".
He has won two Emmys, both forCosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey –Outstanding Main Title Theme Music andOutstanding Music Composition for a Series for the episode "Standing Up in the Milky Way". He has won theSaturn Award for Best Music three times, for his scores forPredator (1987),Back to the Future Part III (1989/90), andVan Helsing (2004). On September 23, 2011, he received the Max Steiner Film Music Achievement Award from the City ofVienna the yearly film-music gala concertHollywood in Vienna.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). Silvestrivineyards.com. Retrieved on May 2, 2012.