Prolific composer Christopher Young will receive the Richard Kirk Award for outstanding career achievement at BMI's annual Film & Television Awards on Wednesday, May 21 in Los Angeles. Staged at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, the black-tie, invitation-only dinner will also honor the composers of the past year's top-grossing films, top-rated prime-time network television series and highest-ranking cable network programs. BMI's President & CEO Del Bryant, and BMI's Vice President, Film/TV Relations, Doreen Ringer Ross, will host the event.

Named in honor of former BMI Vice President and film & television department founder Richard Kirk, the Richard Kirk Award is bestowed on composers who have made significant contributions to the realm of film and television. As the 2008 honoree, Christopher Young joins an elite list of peers that includes George S. Clinton, Harry Gregson-Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Thomas Newman, Michael Kamen, Mark Mothersbaugh, Danny Elfman, Alan Menken, Mike Post, Lalo Schifrin and John Williams.

Award-winning composer Christopher Young has carved out his enviable niche in the upper pantheon of Hollywood composers with unusual speed and unerring flair. The UCLA Film School alumnus first turned heads with fiendish scores for horror and science fiction projects, and he proceeded to garner accolades for work on macabre and fantastical films including Hellraiser, its Saturn award-winning sequel and Species, along with BMI award-winners Ghost Rider, The Grudge and The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Young became a master of suspense, composing music for thrillers including Copycat and BMI honoree Entrapment, as well as dramatic and critical tours-de-force including Golden Globe nominee The Shipping News, Wonder Boys, Rounders and BMI award-winner Swordfish. He also fleshed out the haunting nuances and electrifying action sequences of box office gold Spiderman 3. The New Jersey native has also excelled in television composition, earning two Emmy nominations for telefilms Last Flight Out and Norma Jean & Marilyn. A dedicated mentor, Young has taught classes at USC, served as an advisor for the Sundance Institute Film Composers Lab and created an innovative residential development to house aspiring composers in Los Angeles. He describes his progressive two-pronged approach to composition as the exploration of the contemporary music's abstract ideas and the infinite pursuit of "the great American tune."

The ceremony will salute BMI's Emmy-winning composers from the past year. BMI will also present the Classic Contribution Award to Peter Golub in recognition of his progressive direction of the Sundance Institute Film Composers Lab for the past ten years. An accomplished composer of film, theatre, ballet and concert works, Golub is a natural fit for the lab, which aims to enhance the role of music in independent film. Universally acknowledged as an unparalleled apprenticeship for the next generation of composing elite, the workshop has invaluably benefited from Golub's creative intuition and steady guidance.

“Composers still grapple with the same issues: how to communicate with notes and harmonic possibilities and rhythm,” he says. “But now, there is a wide diversity of possibilities in terms of music and styles from all parts of the world. The really interesting work is in putting that together in unique, personal ways.”

New York-born, Yale-educated Golub, 42, now lives in Los Angeles, where he is currently co-writing the score (with James Newton Howard) for The Great Debaters, a Denzel Washington-directed film based on a true story of black college students in the South during the 1930s.

He has received acclaim for his music for the popular 2006 documentary Wordplay, for the 2002 HBO film The Laramie Project (about the murder of Matthew Shepard) and for the recent documentary Stolen, about a famous Boston art theft. His haunting incidental music for the revival of the William Inge play Come Back, Little Sheba will be heard on Broadway starting in January.

Success in the film and theater worlds hasn’t caused Golub to shun the concert hall, however. His work for chorus and orchestra, “Dark Carols,” an ironic look at Christmas performed by the Kiev Philharmonic, is just out on CD, and two chamber works (for flute and piano, and cello and marimba) were recently premiered as well.

Golub also serves as director of the film music program for the Sundance Institute. Its BMI-sponsored Composers Lab, in which composers and directors meet to discover the possibilities of marrying music and image, just celebrated its 10th year.

“I used to teach composition in college,” Golub says, “so I like the process of nurturing up-and-coming artists. Sundance’s philosophy really fit my own. I thought it was really important that the composers program be integrally tied with the filmmakers lab. We’ve had a real impact.”

Focusing on the dialog and relationship between composer and director, the panel is a cornerstone discussion at the festival on the role of music in film. Topics to be discussed at the panel will include: what goes into creating a successful film score and what makes for an effective composer/director relationship? These questions and others will be answered during this revered festival event.

Panelists scheduled to speak include composers George S. Clinton (Austin Powers), Christopher Young (Sleepwalking), John Frizzell (Henry Poole Is Here), BT (Monster), Peter Golub (I.O.U.S.A., Frozen River, Sundance Composer Lab Director), David Schwartz (Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson), Mervyn Warren (A Raisin In The Sun), Henning Lohner (Love Comes Lately), Mark de gli Antoni (Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired), Christopher Anderson-Bizzoli (The Wind and the Water) and Neal Evans (The Black List).

Filmmakers scheduled to speak include Timothy Greenfield Sanders (The Black List), Amy Redford (The Guitar), Alex Gibney (Gonzo: the Life & Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson), and Patrick Creadon (I.O.U.S.A.), Jan Schuette (Love Comes Lately), and Craig Zadan (A Raisin In The Sun). The discussion will be moderated by Doreen Ringer Ross, Vice President, Film/TV Relations at BMI.

BMI has been an ongoing supporter of the film music program at the Sundance Film Festival as well as at the Sundance Composers Lab, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary. BMI will host the sixth annual Sundance Snowball on January 23 from 6-9 p.m., featuring Six Degrees recording artist Cheb i Sabbah, Steve Smith from rock group Dirty Vegas, Nick Urata from gypsy rock group DeVotchKa and Los Angeles roots/rock/reggae group The Aggrolites.

For more information on BMI events at Sundance as well as on-site coverage of the Festival, please visit bmi.com/sundance.

Sundance Film Festival

Sundance Film Festival is the premier showcase for U.S. and international independent film. Held each January in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Sundance, Utah, the Festival is a core program of Sundance Institute, a nonprofit cultural organization founded by Robert Redford in 1981. Presenting dramatic and documentary feature-length films in nine distinct categories and approximately 80 short films each year, the Sundance Film Festival has introduced American audiences to some of the most innovative films of the past two decades. Since 1984, the Festival program has evolved to include music, art, and dialogue. Beyond the streets of Park City, the official website of the Sundance Film Festival, http://www.sundance.org/festival shares the Festival experience with a global audience with short films, filmmaker interviews, video episodes, podcasts, photos, news stories, and more.

This year’s roundtable will be moderated by BMI’s Vice President of Film/TV Relations, Doreen Ringer Ross, and will feature BMI composers Terence Blanchard (Inside Man; Sundance Composers Lab Advisor), George S. Clinton (Austin Powers; Sundance Composers Lab Advisor), Don Davis (The Good Life), Adam Gorgoni (Starting Out in the Evening), Peter Golub (Wordplay; Composers Lab Director), Andrew Hollander (Waitress), David Robbins (King of California), Anton Sanko (Delirious), Ed Shearmur (Dedication; Composer Lab Advisor), Alex Wurman (The Nines; Composer Lab Advisor), and Craig Wedren (The Ten). The event will also feature directors John August (The Nines), Steve Berra (The Good Life), Mike Cahill (King of California), Justin Theroux (Dedication) and David Wain (The Ten).

BMI will present its annual Composer/Director Roundtable during the 2007 Sundance Film Festival being held Jan. 18-28 in Park City, Utah. Entitled "Music & Film: The Creative Process," the roundtable will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 24 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Sundance House at the Kimball Art Center (638 Park Avenue). This event is open to festival badge holders.

Terence Blanchard	George S. Clinton	Ed Shearmur

BMI has been an ongoing supporter of the film music program at the Festival as well as at the Sundance Composers Lab held each summer at the Sundance Institute. Click here for more information on BMI events at Sundance as well as on-site coverage of the Festival.

This year's roundtable will be moderated by BMI's Vice President of Film/TV Relations, Doreen Ringer Ross, and will feature BMI composers Terence Blanchard (Inside Man; Sundance Composers Lab Advisor), George S. Clinton (Austin Powers; Sundance Composers Lab Advisor), Don Davis (The Good Life), Adam Gorgoni (Starting Out in the Evening), Peter Golub (Wordplay; Composers Lab Director), Andrew Hollander (Waitress), David Robbins (King of California), Anton Sanko (Delirious), Ed Shearmur (Dedication; Composer Lab Advisor), Alex Wurman (The Nines; Composer Lab Advisor), and Craig Wedren (The Ten). The event will also feature directors John August (The Nines), Steve Berra (The Good Life), Mike Cahill (King of California), Justin Theroux (Dedication) and David Wain (The Ten).

The panel will focus on the role music plays in film, the composer/director relationship, the growing role of documentaries, and the art of scoring for that medium, as well as the creative expansion of the form.

The Sundance Film Festival is the premier showcase for U.S. and international independent film. Held each January in and around Park City, Utah, the Festival is a core program of the Sundance Institute, a nonprofit cultural organization founded by Robert Redford in 1981. Presenting 120 dramatic and documentary feature-length films in seven distinct categories, and 80 short films each year, the Sundance Film Festival has introduced American audiences to some of the most innovative films of the past two decades, including Little Miss Sunshine, Quinceañera, Clerks, Hustle and Flow, Maria Full of Grace, Napoleon Dynamite, sex, lies and videotape, Smoke Signals and Super Size Me. Beyond the streets of Park City, the official website of the Sundance Film Festival shares the Festival experience with a global audience through the streaming of short films, filmmaker interviews, and current news and box office information.

Visit BMI @ Sundance 2007

Marc Ostrow, VP Business Affairs, Boosey & Hawkes and Hendon Music; Jenny Bilfield, President, Boosey & Hawkes and Hendon Music; BMI composer John Adams; BMI's Doreen Ringer Ross; Danielle Bond, Label Liaison/Creative TV, Warner Music Group; and Peter Golub, Sundance Institute

This event was a groundbreaking first by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which presented a wide-ranging survey of minimalism. Under Adam's watchful ear, the Minimalist Jukebox Festival reflected on where we've been, the current state of the art, and things to come.

Shown at the reception are (l-r): BMI's Doreen Ringer Ross, BMI composer John Adams and the Sundance Institute's Peter Golub.

BMI composer John Adams has been heralded worldwide for a unique style that harnesses the rhythmic energy of minimalism to the harmonies and orchestral colors of late romanticism. He brought contemporary history to the opera house with his post-modern music theater works "Nixon in China" (1987) and "The Death of Klinghoffer" (1991), and has addressed urgent social issues in "I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky," "El Dorado" and "The Wound-Dresser."

Adams was awarded the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in Music for "On the Transmigration of Souls," a composition commissioned by the New York Philharmonic to commemorate the victims of the World Trade Center attacks. His works have been performed worldwide by great orchestras and opera companies, and are widely used by choreographers. He is the recipient of the 1995 Grawemeyer Award for his "Violin Concerto" and the 2004 Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Musical Composition.]]> 2006-04-12T18:00:01-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/334655 Artists, Blanchard, Terence, Brothers, Cary, Copeland, Stewart, Danna, Mychael, Golub, Peter, Hunt, Van, Julyan, David, Kitay, David, Marinelli, Anthony, Richey, Craig, Rouse, Josh, Zigman, Aaron BMI will once again present its annual film music panel and artist showcase during the Sundance Film Festival, being held January 19-28 in Park City, Utah. Check out bmi.com/sundance for more information on BMI events at Sundance as well as onsite coverage of the 2006 Festival.

The 6th annual Composer/Director Roundtable, entitled "Music & Film: The Creative Process," will be held on Wednesday, January 25 from 11am to 1pm at the Sundance House at the Kimball Art Center (638 Park Avenue). The panel is open to festival badge and ticket holders. Tickets are available at sundance.org and at Festival ticket offices.

This year's roundtable will be moderated by BMI's Vice President of Film/TV Relations, Doreen Ringer Ross, and will feature composers Aaron Zigman (Alpha Dog), David Kitay (The Darwin Awards), Stewart Copeland (composer/screenwriter/director Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out, Rumblefish), Peter Golub (composer/director Wordplay, Sundance Composers Lab), Mychael Danna (Little Miss Sunshine, Capote), Craig Richey (Friends With Money), David Julyan (The Descent), Anthony Marinelli (Dreamland) and Terence Blanchard (Mo' Better Blues, The 25th Hour, Sundance Composers Lab Advisor), and directors Nick Cassavetes (Alpha Dog), Finn Taylor (director/screenwriter The Darwin Awards), Patrick Creadon (Wordplay), Neil Marshall (director/screenwriter The Descent), Jason Matzner (Dreamland) and Haskell Wexler (director/cinematographer Who Needs Sleep?).

The panel will focus on the role music (both score and source) plays in film, the composer/director relationship, the growing role of documentaries and the art of scoring for that medium, as well as budgets and creative expansion of the form.

The 4th annual BMI Songwriters Snowball will take place later that evening from 6pm to 8:30pm. This acoustic, singer/songwriter showcase, also being held at the Sundance House, is an official 2006 Sundance Film Festival event and is open to festival badge holders, press passes and invited guests only; tickets will not be sold.

Michael Penn	Van Hunt

As part of BMI's goal to focus attention on the role of music in film, this year's Songwriters Snowball will feature four unique artists whose voices and vision complement that of the filmmakers showcased at the Festival. Performers include Southern California singer/songwriter Cary Brothers (Garden State soundtrack) at 6pm, Bedroom Classics/Nettwerk Music Group recording artist Josh Rouse at 6:30pm, Grammy nominee and Capitol Records artist Van Hunt at 7pm, and Mimeograph recording artist Michael Penn at 7:30pm.

Josh Rouse	Cary Brothers

As a 15-year supporter of the Festival's film music program, BMI also plays an active role in the Sundance Composers Lab held each summer at the Sundance Institute.

The Sundance Film Festival is the premier showcase for U.S. and international independent film. Held each January in and around Park City, Utah, the Festival is a core program of Sundance Institute, a nonprofit cultural organization founded by Robert Redford in 1981. Presenting 120 dramatic and documentary feature-length films in seven distinct categories, and 80 short films each year, the Sundance Film Festival has introduced American audiences to some of the most innovative films of the past two decades, including American Splendor, Clerks, Hustle and Flow, Maria Full of Grace, Napoleon Dynamite, sex, lies and videotape, Smoke Signals and Super Size Me. Beyond the streets of Park City, sundance.org shares the Festival experience with a global audience through the streaming of short films, filmmaker interviews, current news and box office information.]]> 2006-01-05T17:00:01-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/234550 Artists, Golub, Peter, R.E.M., Awards, Musical Styles, Dance, Film-TV Sundance Institute Film Music Program, which is dedicated to supporting emerging film composers and enhancing the role of music in independent film. BMI's Doreen Ringer Ross, Vice President of Film/TV Relations, serves as an advisor to the Lab, held each year in July and August in Sundance, Utah.

Shown at the 2005 Sundance Composers Lab are (l-r): music supervisors Evyen Klena (Angels in America, Real Women Have Curves) and Tracy McKnight (Everyday People, The United States of Leland); Paul Broucek, President, Music, New Line Cinema; BMI's Doreen Ringer Ross; Rob Messinger, Film Music Agent, First Artists; and Peter Golub, Director of the Sundance Institute Film Music Program.

Fellows for the 8th Annual Sundance Composers Lab included Don Byron, Barbara Cohen, Marco d'Ambrosio, Andrea Kapsalis, Ljova (a.k.a. Lev Zhurbin) and Gyan Riley, who participated in workshops and creative exercises under the guidance of leading film composers and film music professionals during the two-week lab. The Composers Lab provides valuable first-hand experience in composing for film and enhances the musical understanding of independent filmmakers participating in the program.

Participants of the 2005 Sundance Composers Lab are shown from top to bottom. (Top row): driver Lagan Sebert; FFP Fellow DW Harper; driver Christina Martin; Lab Fellows Gyan Riley, Peter and Ljova; Lab staff member Rebecca Davenport; Lab Fellows Andreas Kapsalis and Marco d'Ambrosio; and Lab Technical Director Scott Johnson. (Bottom row): driver Matthew Benson; Lab Coordinator Matt Anderson; BMI's Doreen Ringer Ross; advisors John Waters and George; FFP Fellow Stew; Lab Fellow Barbara Cohen; FFP Fellows Eva Husson, Ryan Eslinger and Heidi Rodewald; Lab Manager Emma Ruse; and Assistant Lab Manager Rachel Donner.

Photos by Chelsea Ross

During the two-week intensive lab, Fellows participate in workshops and creative exercises under the guidance of leading film composers and film music professionals. The Composers Lab participants also collaborate with filmmakers from the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program as well as the Sundance Documentary Program to explore the process of writing music for film and to create accompanying scores for scenes shot by the Filmmaker Fellows during the Institute's Filmmakers Lab.

The Composers Lab is a major component of the Sundance Institute Film Music Program, which is dedicated to supporting emerging film composers and enhancing the role of music in independent film. First offered from 1986-1989, the Composers Lab was re-introduced in the summer of 1998 with the support of BMI to provide a collaborative and supportive environment where composers can experiment and expand their musical language. The Sundance Composers Lab provides valuable first-hand experience in composing for film and enhances the musical understanding of independent filmmakers participating in the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program.

"BMI has been a part of the Lab from its inception, and it's become a vital educational experience for many of our composers," said Doreen Ringer Ross, Vice President, Film/TV Relations at BMI, who serves as a Creative Advisor for the Lab. "It's been a great vehicle for unique composers with experience in other areas to learn the craft of dramatic underscore as well as engage in direct interaction with filmmakers."

"Music is a crucial and often overlooked part of the filmmaking process," explains Peter Golub, Director of the Sundance Institute Film Music Program. "This Lab provides a unique opportunity for emerging composers and directors to work together in an atmosphere that encourages experimentation. Interest in this program continues to grow and this year's Fellows represent an extraordinary level of accomplishment and range of musical experience. We're very excited about the work we'll be doing with them and the impact we will have on the Fellows from the Filmmakers Lab and the Documentary Program.""

In addition to their work with the Filmmakers Lab, Composers Lab Fellows will work under the mentorship of a distinguished group of composers, filmmakers, and film industry professionals who serve as Creative Advisors, including BMI's Ringer Ross; world renowned musicians Maya Beiser (cellist) and Steven Schick (percussionist); director John Waters (A Dirty Shame, Hairspray, Pink Flamingos); film composers Jeff Beal (Pollack, In the Realms of the Unreal, Carnivale), George S. Clinton (Austin Powers trilogy, Joe Somebody, A Dirty Shame), James Newton Howard (The Village, Hidalgo, Snow Falling on Cedars) and Christopher Young (The Hurricane, The Grudge, Wonder Boys); classical composer Osvaldo Golijov (The Man Who Cried, "La Pasi�n Seg�n San Marcos" ["St. Mark's Passion"]); Paul Broucek, President, Music, New Line Cinema; sound editor Jon Johnson; music supervisors Evyen Klean (Angels in America, S.W.A.T., Real Women Have Curves) and Tracy McKnight (Everyday People, My Architect: A Son's Journey, The United States of Leland); film music agent Robert Messinger (First Artists); filmmaker Robb Moss (The Same River Twice); and music editor Adam Smalley.

The Sundance Institute Composers Lab continues to receive major support from founding sponsor BMI; additional in-kind support is generously provided by Alesis, LaCie, Mark of the Unicorn, Mackie and Yamaha.

2005 Sundance Institute Conductors Lab Fellows:

Don Byron
Bronx-born clarinetist Don Byron is a singular voice in a dizzying range of musical contexts, redefining every genre of music he plays, be it classical, salsa, hip-hop, funk, klezmer, or any jazz style from swing and bop to cutting-edge improvisation. He has composed and arranged music for jazz and chamber ensembles, for films and dance, and has recorded ten albums as a leader for Blue Note and Nonesuch Records.

Barbara Cohen
Barbara Cohen is a gifted vocalist, composer and multi-instrumentalist (guitar, mandolin, flute, piccolo etc). Her intricate body of work embraces a variety of musical genres from folk, roots rock, trip-hop, electronica and world music. This former Virgin Records recording artist has been the recipient of many awards including the Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship Grant for artistry and composition.

Marco d'Ambrosio
Marco's scores have been on projects released by 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures Classics, Lucasfilm, PDI/DreamWorks, Pixar, APPP and Columbia TriStar. He has composed music for the independent features including Haiku Tunnel (Sundance 2001), the anime Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust and Testosterone (Toronto 2003), in theatres on THX, Dolby and Century Theatres trailers and on PBS documentaries including the award winning Blink, They Drew Fire and Double Dare.

Andrea Kapsalis
Andreas Kapsalis' song "Cubist" was recently featured on NPR's "All Songs Considered." He also received high praise from jazz legend Dave Brubeck for an arrangement of the classic song "Blue Rondo a la Turk," recorded in collaboration with Grammy Award-winning producer Jim Tullio. Andreas utilities a rare eight finger guitar technique to demonstrate his ability to play melody, rhythm, and bass simultaneously while exploring the traditions of classical and Mediterranean styles in his compositions.

Ljova (a.k.a. Lev Zhurbin)
Ljova is a composer, arranger and violist. Most recently, Ljova has been collaborating with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project and the Kronos Quartet, among others.

Gyan Riley
Gyan Riley, a 27-year-old California native, has emerged as a prominent figure in the guitar world and the contemporary music scene both as a performer and composer. Concert tours with the Europe-based World Guitar Ensemble, the Los Angeles-based Falla Guitar Trio, and father/composer/pianist Terry Riley, have taken him throughout Europe and the United States to perform originals and works from the repertoire.]]> 2005-07-26T18:00:00-05:00