Jon Burlingame

Hailed by no less than the New York Times as “the hottest artist on the classical music planet,” Chinese pianist Lang Lang has expanded traditional performance boundaries beyond the usual Bach, Mozart and Chopin to include Disney songs and contemporary film music. On April 10, he will become one of a handful of classical pianists […]

Dan Wallin, the music scoring engineer who recorded such classic film scores as “Spartacus,” “Bullitt,” “The Wild Bunch” and “Out of Africa,” has died at his home in Hawaii. He was 97. Twice Oscar-nominated for best sound (1970’s “Woodstock” and 1976’s “A Star Is Born”), he won a 2009 Emmy for sound mixing on the […]

Mike Post has written the music for more classic TV series than anyone else: “The Rockford Files,” “Hill Street Blues,” “The Greatest American Hero,” “Magnum, P.I.,” “The A-Team,” “L.A. Law,” “NYPD Blue,” “Law & Order” and many others over the past 50 years. But for his new album, “Message from the Mountains & Echoes of […]

FX’s acclaimed miniseries “Shōgun,” now nearing its halfway point, sports a score quite unlike Maurice Jarre’s music for the 1980 original adaptation. While utilizing authentic Japanese instruments, the music takes a very modern approach that applies today’s technology and advanced sonic manipulation in ways that were impossible four decades ago. Oscar-winner Atticus Ross (“The Social […]

Popular on Variety Ludwig Göransson made good on an awards-season sweep by winning an Academy Award Sunday night for the music of “Oppenheimer,” his second career win for best original score. The Oscar completes a run the 39-year-old Swedish composer has had picking up Grammy, Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics Choice and Society of Composers & […]

Popular on Variety Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell made Oscar history by becoming the two youngest two-time winners in Academy Awards history, as they picked up the best song trophy for a second time Sunday night for “What Was I Made For?,” their contribution to the “Barbie” soundtrack. The pop-star siblings previously won for “No […]

In an ideal world, the Academy’s music branch would watch all the movies and decide which five have met the criteria for excellence in musical scoring. But we all know that many other factors come into play: Was the film commercially successful? Is the composer already popular with his or her peers? Have voters been […]

Heading into the Academy Awards on March 10, with Golden Globe, BAFTA and Grammy wins behind him, “Oppenheimer” composer Ludwig Göransson would seem to have the original score Oscar sewn up. The Swedish composer, already an Oscar winner for 2018’s “Black Panther,” spent nine months writing three hours of music for Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster biopic. […]

As the American Federation of Musicians and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers resumed contract negotiations Wednesday, the AFM has released statistics that shed light on the changing nature of employment for industry musicians who play on many of the films and TV shows now being made. When a film or TV show […]

Everyone thinks of themselves as an expert in music, so every year complaints are voiced about the Oscar nominees for song and score. This year, more than most, insiders are venting (privately, for fear of antagonizing voters) about the choices and the process by which they’re made. Variety surveyed multiple interested observers, including studio executives, […]

Popular on Variety Everyone thinks of themselves as an expert in music, so every year complaints are voiced about the Oscar nominees for song and score. This year, more than most, insiders are venting (privately, for fear of antagonizing voters) about the choices and the process by which they’re made. Variety surveyed multiple interested observers, […]

Popular on Variety Two songs from “Barbie” are Oscar-nominated, part of a diverse collection of songs and musical scores nominated for the 96th annual Academy Awards. “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell, and “I’m Just Ken,” by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, were chosen by the 390 voting members of […]

Popular on Variety British composer Laurie Johnson, whose theme for “The Avengers” was among the most famous of 1960s spy-show signatures, died in his sleep on Tuesday, Jan. 16, in North London, according to a statement from the family. He was 96. Johnson was among the last of the prominent English film composers active during […]

Sometimes directors don’t want you humming the music as you leave their film. More than ever, filmmakers are seeking fresh musical approaches, especially when the subject matter is dark or fantastic. Three late-2023 releases demonstrate this with music that catches the ear in unusual ways. Director Yorgos Lanthimos had never commissioned original music for any […]

Taking an old film score and dropping it into a new film is “like wearing somebody else’s underwear,” veteran composer Earle Hagen used to say. Hagen, the Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning composer of such classic themes as “The Andy Griffith Show,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “The Mod Squad,” would have been appalled by the musical […]

Ryan Murphy’s upcoming FX series “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” boasts one of the greatest casts of the TV season. But it has also broken new ground on the music side: a father-daughter team providing the musical score. It’s believed to be a first for music in films and TV. Emmy winner and 15-time Oscar […]

Oscar’s music branch has had its say, naming 15 original scores and 15 songs to its shortlist for possible nomination at the 96th Academy Awards, with few surprises. As expected, all three “Barbie” songs that were entered — Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For,” Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” and Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just […]

Ninety-four songs and 149 scores have been deemed eligible in the music categories for the 96th annual Academy Awards, Variety has learned. Voting began this morning, with 390 members of the Academy music branch eligible to vote in this year’s competition. And for the first time in years, there appear to be no surprises or […]

The greatest film score of 2023 isn’t eligible for an Academy Award. That’s because Leonard Bernstein composed it between 1944 and 1977, multiple pieces that collectively form the musical backdrop of “Maestro,” Bradley Cooper’s film about the 20th century American composer-conductor. The classical excerpts functioning as dramatic score include Bernstein’s ballets “Fancy Free” and “Facsimile,” […]

Laura Karpman is one of very few composers who has made a genuine difference in the scoring community. A five-time Emmy winner, she co-founded the Alliance for Women Film Composers, which is widely credited with helping to propel the nearly invisible community of female music writers into prominence. No one asks “why aren’t there any […]