Howard Shore Composer - Date of Birth 18 October 1946, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Birth Name Howard Leslie Shore

Mini Bio (1) Howard Shore was born on October 18, 1946 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as Howard Leslie Shore. He is known for his work on The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002).

Spouse (1) Elizabeth Cotnoir (3 August 1990 - ?)

Often works with directors David Cronenberg and Peter Jackson

Dark, ominous themes

Heavy use of violins and choirs.

Was a member of the horn section in the Canadian band Lighthouse in the early 1970s.

Was the first Musical Director of the original incarnation of the band from Saturday Night Live (1975). Shore and future SNL producer Lorne Michaels first met as teenagers at summer camp in Canada, where they put on shows, including their own musical/comedy show called 'The Fast Show'.

Uncle of composer Ryan Shore.

Since 1979, he has scored all but one (The Dead Zone (1983)) of director David Cronenberg's theatrical films. Cronenberg is also from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Has scored two of the three sequels that have won Best Picture. The first was The Silence of the Lambs (1991), the sequel to Manhunter (1986). The second was The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), the final film in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings, (2001-2003) trilogy.

Coordinated with Hollywood Bowl conductor John Mauceri for national performances of his "The Lord of the Rings Symphony" in six movements.

Helped Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi to organize the first incarnation of the Blues Brothers Band.

He and Danny Elfman have both formed hit bands (The Blues Brothers and Oingo Boingo, respectively). Both scored a film for Tim Burton (Shore scored Ed Wood (1994) and Elfman has scored numerous Burton films). Both scored a film for Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Frighteners (1996), respectively). Finally, both scored a Hannibal Lecter film (The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Red Dragon (2002), respectively).

Attended Berklee College of Music, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Oscar winners Shore (score) and Michael Semanick (sound re-recording mixer) have cameos as Rohan Guards in the extended edition DVD of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). They join in the victory celebration at the Golden Hall and are prominent in the scenes featuring Legolas and Gimli's drinking game. They are the two guards right behind Legolas the elf. (Chapter 5, "Return to Edoras").

James Woods, star of Videodrome (1983), described him as "the Bernard Herrmann of the synthesizer".

In 2004, a new rule for the Academy Awards that disallowed film scores, which contained work from previous films resulted in the score to The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) being ineligible for submission to the Academy. The new rule proved very unpopular with both Academy members and the general public - and had it been present in years past, would have invalidated many other nominated scores, such as the "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" sequels. Because of the debacle, the Academy returned to its original position for future years' films.

Was inspired by Richard Wagner; in particular his Ring of the Nibelung cycle of operas; in composing his scores for the Lord of the Rings films. One exception to this was the Shelob's Lair scene from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), in which Peter Jackson told him to "go off and pretend you're making another movie for David Cronenberg. This should sound like The Fly (1986)!".

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006290/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

Howard Leslie Shore (born October 18, 1946) is a Canadian composer who is notable for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies. He won three Academy Awards for his work on the first trilogy, with one being for the original song "Into the West", an award he shared with Eurythmics lead vocalist Annie Lennox. He is also a consistent collaborator with director David Cronenberg, having scored all but one of his films since 1979.

Shore has also composed a few concert works including one opera, The Fly, based on the plot (though not his score) of Cronenberg's 1986 film premiered at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on July 2, 2008, a short piece Fanfare for the Wanamaker Organ and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and a short overture for the Swiss 21st Century Symphony Orchestra. Shore also scored for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, the third film of the five-film series.

In addition to his three Academy Award wins, Shore has also won three Golden Globe Awards and four Grammy Awards.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Shore