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John Williams was born on February 8, 1932, in Long Island, New York. His distinctive sound is instantly recognizable, and his classic scores of the cinema have earned him a place of honor in the history of American film and American music. Named "the most successful composer of film music in the history of the medium" by the Boston Globe, John Williams has given us the brassy, unabashedly romantic, optimistic sound of an all-American art form. He "startles you with the quality of his musical imagination," wrote Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times. "He's the March King of our era," wrote the Boston Globe's Richard Dyer.
Williams' hundreds of musical projects form an impressive panorama of the sounds of our culture, from "Playhouse 90" in 1952 and "Bachelor Flat" in 1962, to "How To Steal A Million" and "Penelope" in 1966, "Valley of the Dolls" in 1967, "The Poseidon Adventure" in 1972, "Jaws" in 1975, "Star Wars" beginning in 1977 and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" the same year, "Superman" in 1978, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in 1981, "E.T." in 1982, "Empire of the Sun" in 1987, "Schindler's List" in 1993, "Sabrina" and "Nixon" in 1995, "Saving Private Ryan" in 1998, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in 2001, "Catch Me If You Can" in 2003, "The Terminal" in 2004 and the next "Indiana Jones" picture, set for release in 2006. Making music for motion pictures for six decades and counting, John Williams has been the most powerful, most persuasive champion of true orchestral music on screen.
There is real affection for the great symphonic tradition in his work which is at once strikingly original and spectacularly accessible. He has revitalized and continues to nourish that tradition, exploring the immense possibilities of the modern symphony orchestra, enjoying a Hollywood career that so far has earned Williams five Academy Awards: for his original scores in "Schindler's List," "E.T.," "Star Wars," and "Jaws," as well as for his adaptation of "Fiddler on the Roof." He also has earned 17 Grammys, three Golden Globes, two Emmys, and BAFTA Awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. His music for the "Star Wars" trilogy alone is an undisputed icon of American popular culture.
Beyond the silver screen, Williams has brought his genius and generosity to the concert stage as principal conductor and now laureate conductor of the world's most populist symphony, the Boston Pops Orchestra. His own work as a composer may prove as influential as his film music and so far has included acclaimed concert scores performed by Yo-Yo Ma and the Boston Symphony, as well as by the New York Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra. His duties as a sought-after guest conductor have taken him coast to coast and around the world. The indefatigable musician is currently artist-in-residence of the Tanglewood Festival.
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