BMI Composers Win Global Success at World Soundtrack Awards

BMI is proud to report that on Wednesday evening in Gent the 17th World Soundtrack Awards honored several BMI composers with prestigious recognition of their outstanding music. BMI composer David Shire received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his impressive and immensely popular work on Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation, Alan J. Pakula’s All the President’s Men, George A. Romero’s Monkey Shines, David Fincher’s Zodiac and Martin Ritt’s Norma Rae, for which his song “It Goes Like It Goes” won the Oscar for Best Original Song. The versatile and prolific composer also scored Saturday Night Fever and Raid on Entebbe.

Central Guest of Honor at the Awards was composer and jazz artist Terence Blanchard, known for his long-running collaboration with director Spike Lee for whom he scored Malcolm X, Clockers and Inside Man. The second half of the ceremony featured Blanchard performing his work from the HBO documentary When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts and Red Tails along with the Brussels Philharmonic, conducted by Dirk Brossé. David Shire also played with them on his score for The Conversation. 2016’s Discovery of the Year winner BMI composer Joe Kraemer (Jack Reacher, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation) was also honored.

In addition, the Public Choice Award was presented to BMI composer A.R. Rahman for creating the music for Gurinder Chadha’s Viceroy’s House. Rahman is also known for his work in Slumdog Millionaire. “City of Stars” composer Justin Hurwitz also won an award that was announced by BMI’s Vice President, Film, TV and Visual Media Relations, Doreen Ringer-Ross. Hurwitz accepted the honor for Best Original Song Written Directly for a Film (La La Land) via video. Before attending the awards ceremony and concert, Ringer-Ross also moderated an insightful panel on Wednesday, October 18, entitled “Career Development and Life as a Film Composer.” The lively discussion among composers, which included the topic of how they balance life as a recording artist and a film composer, featured BMI composers and artists Terence Blanchard, Dustin O’Halloran and Joe Kraemer, as well as composer/artist Hauschka.