A Special Tribute to Emmy-Winning Composer Bill Conti
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| Bill Conti |
MUSIC & POETRY An American Gentleman of Music: A Special Tribute
to Oscar and Emmy-winning Composer Bill Conti.
Oscar and five-time Emmy Award winner Bill Conti is one of Hollywood's most sought-after composers and conductors for both film and television. With exquisite and memorable melodies, his compositions are much loved by the public. In fact, more than 8 million of his albums and singles have been sold.
Mr. Bill Conti won an Oscar for Best Original Score for "The Right Stuff" and received two Oscar nominations for his songs in the James Bond motion picture "For Your Eyes Only" and the 1976 Academy Award-winning Best Picture "Rocky." His unforgettable songs have also received prominent Grammy and Golden Globe nominations.
Mr. Conti's impressive list of accomplishments includes composing scores for over 70 feature films and 50 television productions. As a conductor, he has also worked with over 40 international and local symphonies and orchestras.
Some of his most familiar themes for television broadcast include those for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, "World News Tonight," "Prime Time Live," "Nightline," "Dynasty," "Cagney & Lacey," "ABC's Good Morning America," "Inside Edition," "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," and many, many more.
Among major motion pictures for which Mr. Conti composed scores are "The Thomas Crown Affair," "Private Benjamin," "Broadcast News," "Baby Boom," "Rookie of the Year," "The Adventures of Huck Finn," and "The Scout." The music for the four "Karate Kid" movies and the five "Rocky" movies, all very popular among audiences, was also composed by Mr. Bill Conti.
In addition to his composing work, Mr. Conti also travels around the world as a guest conductor of several esteemed orchestras, such as the London Symphony Orchestra of the United Kingdom, the Calgary Philharmonic of Canada, the RAI Orchestra of Rome in Italy, and the Graunke Orchestra of Munich in Germany, to name only a few. He has also served as the principal pops conductor for the Nashville Symphony in the United States.
Bill Conti was born into an artistic family in Providence, Rhode Island on April 13, 1942. It was from his father, a talented painter, sculptor, and pianist, that the young Bill Conti began learning to play the piano at age seven. When he was 15, Bill Conti assembled a band that performed at high school dances in Miami, Florida. Bill Conti later attended Louisiana State University (LSU) on a scholarship for the bassoon, where he studied composition and played jazz piano to support his schooling.
During this time, Bill Conti met his future beloved wife Shelby, an accomplished ballerina. After Bill Conti graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree from LSU, he attended the Juilliard School of Music in New York and received training from celebrated musicians and composers such as Hugo Weisgall, Vincent Persichetti, Roger Sessions, Luciano Berio, and Jorge Mester. Mr. Conti graduated from Juilliard with a Bachelor of Music degree, followed by a Master's.
Mr. Bill Conti was also presented with an honorary doctoral degree in music at his alma mater, Louisiana State University. The brilliant artist's rich contributions to the entertainment industry were recognized when a star bearing his name was placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1989. For his immense creative gifts, in 1995 the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers presented Mr. Bill Conti with the Golden Soundtrack Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Mr. Bill Conti served as music director of the distinguished "America Celebrates July 4th at Ford's Theatre," a gala event.
