Birthplace: New York
School Attended: UCLA
Music Education: He started playing the piano at a young age and studied composition with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. He also went to Juilliard School and studied piano with Madame Rosina Lhevinne.
Positions Held: He served in the Air Force then worked as a jazz pianist in New York. Later on he went into the film industry. In 1980, Williams became the nineteenth Conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra. After he retired in 1993, he was given the title Boston Pops Laureate Conductor. He now holds the title Artist-in-Residence at Tanglewood. He has honorary degrees from 14 different universities, including Berklee College of Music and New England Conservatory of Music.
Awards Received: At the time of this writing, he won 5 Academy Awards, 3 Golden Globes, 2 Emmys, 17 Grammys and 5 awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). In 2000 he was named Maestro of the Year by the National Association of Theater Owners and was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame.
Notable Works: John Williams is known for his film scores, concert works and ceremonial music. Some of his well-known works are his film scores for the "Star Wars" trilogy, "Jaws," "E.T.," "Indiana Jones" series and "Schindler's List." Also composed the music for "Superman," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "Far and Away," "Born on the Fourth of July," "Always," "The Accidental Tourist," "Saving Private Ryan," "Seven Years in Tibet," "Rosewood," "Amistad," "Empire of the Sun," "The Lost World," "Jurassic Park," "Nixon," "JFK," "Sabrina," "Home Alone," "Hook," "Sleepers," "Goodbye Mr. Chips," "Presumed Innocent," "The Witches of Eastwick," "Minority Report" and "Memoirs of a Geisha." He also composed the theme for NBC’s “The Mission” and during the re-dedication of the Statue of Liberty, he wrote “Liberty Fanfare”.
Notable People He Worked With: Director Steven Spielberg, composers Alfred Newman, Franz Waxman and Bernard Herrmann. He worked with various musicians including Yo-Yo Ma (cello), Michael Sachs (trumpet), Judith LeClair (bassoon) and soprano Cynthia Haymon.
Notable Musical Groups He Worked With: Boston Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony and the Dallas Symphony.
Compositions for the Olympics:
1984 Summer Olympics (Los Angeles) - “Olympic Fanfare and Theme” , this was added to the “Buglers Dream” which was introduced during the 1968 Olympics.
1987 International Summer Games (Special Olympics)– “We’re Lookin’ Good”
1988 Summer Olympics (Seoul) – “Olympic Spirit”
1996 Summer Olympics (Atlanta) – “Summon the Heroes”
2002 Winter Olympics (Salt Lake City) – “Call of the Champions”
John Williams Albums: (Compare Prices)
- American Journey-Winter Olympics 2002
- Yo-Yo Ma Plays the Music of John Williams
- Music Of John Williams: 40 Years Of Film
- Summon the Heroes / John Williams, Boston Pops
- The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration
- The Star Wars Trilogy
Music from musicby.jw-music.net
