Nocturne - Music

Paul Seiko Chihara Born July 9 1938 Is An American Composer. Chihara Was Born In Seattle Washington In 1938. A Japanese American He Spent Several Years Of His Childhood With His Family In An Internment Camp In Minidoka Idaho. Chihara Received A B.A. And An M.A. In English Literature From The University Of Washington And Cornell University Respectively. He Received A D.M.A In 1965 From Cornell Studying With Robert Palmer. He Also Studied Composition With Nadia Boulanger In Paris Ernst Pepping In West Berlin And Gunther Schuller In Tanglewood. He Was The First Composer-In-Residence Of The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Conducted By Neville Marriner And Is Currently On The Music Faculty Of UCLA Where He Is The Head Of The Visual Media Program. Chihara's Prize-Winning Concert Works Which Include Symphonies Concertos Chamber Music Choral Compositions And Ballets Have Been Performed To Great Acclaim Both Nationally And Internationally. His Works Are Concerned With The Evolution And Expression Of Highly Contrasting Colors Textures And Emotional Levels Which Are Often Dramatically Juxtaposed With One Another. His Works Have Been Commissioned By The Guggenheim Foundation The Roger Wagner Chorale The Naumberg Foundation And The National Endowment For The Arts. He Has Also Received Commissions From The Boston And London Symphonies As Well As The Los Angeles Philharmonic And Cleveland Orchestra. He Was Composer-In-Residence With The San Francisco Ballet For Ten Years. Tempest And Shinju Are Among His Well-Known Ballet Scores. His Music Reflects Interest In A Variety Of Musical Styles And Often Shows Influence From Asian Music And Culture. He Sometimes Incorporates Quotations And Stylistic Borrowings From Jazz Standards Folk Song And The Classical Repertoire. He Has Composed Music In A Variety Of Forms Including Ballets Musicals Symphonies Choral And Chamber Music. His Close Connection With Music For Dramatic Forms Extends Into Film And Television For Which He Has Written Nearly 100 Scores. His First Film Score Was For Roger Corman's Death Race 2000 1974 And Came At The Point That He Decided To Leave Academia To Pursue A Living As A Composer. His Exit From The University And Entrance Into Film Music Also Produced A Change In His Concert Music. It Was At This Point That He Moved Away From The 12-Tone And Freely Chromatic Styles He Had Employed Up To Then And Embraced A More Tonal Style. He Has Worked With Directors Sidney Lumet Louis Malle Michael Ritchie And Arthur Penn. His Movie Credits Include Prince Of The City The Morning After And Crossing Delancey His Television Credits Include China Beach Simon And Simon And MacGruder And Loud The Pilot And Theme Music To Manimal Among Others. He Also Composed The Score For Shogun The Musical Based On James Clavell's Novel. Shogun Had A Short Run On Broadway Running From November 1990 To January 1991. Chihara's Notable Students Include James Horner Christopher Brady Matthew Tommasini Sean Friar Jeff Kryka Joseph Trapanese And Cynthia Tse Kimberlin. read less