Alan Anthony Silvestri (born March 26, 1950) is an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and conductor of film and television scores. He has been associated with director

Robert Zemeckis Robert Lee Zemeckis (born May 14, 1952) is an American filmmaker. He first came to public attention as the director of the action-adventure romantic comedy ''Romancing the Stone'' (1984), the science-fiction comedy ''Back to the Future'' film tr ...

since 1984, composing music for all of his feature films including the ''Back to the Future'' film series, ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American live-action/animated comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely adapted by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman from Gary K. Wolf's 1 ...

'', ''

Forrest Gump ''Forrest Gump'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Eric Roth. It is based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom and stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson and ...

'', ''

Cast Away ''Cast Away'' is a 2000 American survival drama film directed and produced by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, and Nick Searcy. Hanks plays a FedEx troubleshooter stranded on an uninhabited island after his plane crashes in ...

'' and ''

The Polar Express ''The Polar Express'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg and published by Houghton Mifflin in 1985. The book is now widely considered to be a classic Christmas story for young children. It was praised for its detai ...

''. Silvestri also composed many other popular movies, including ''

Predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

'', ''

The Abyss ''The Abyss'' is a 1989 American science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron and starring Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn. When an American submarine sinks in the Caribbean, a US search and recovery team ...

'', ''

Father of the Bride The Father of the Bride is commonly one of the wedding ceremony participants. Father of the Bride may also refer to: * ''Father of the Bride'' (novel), 1949, by Edward Streeter ** ''Father of the Bride'' (franchise), media franchise based on the 1 ...

'', '' The Bodyguard'', '' The Parent Trap'', ''

Stuart Little ''Stuart Little'' is a 1945 American children's novel by E. B. White. It was White's first children's book, and it is now widely recognized as a classic in children's literature. ''Stuart Little'' was illustrated by the subsequently award-winnin ...

'', ''

The Mummy Returns ''The Mummy Returns'' is a 2001 American adventure horror film written and directed by Stephen Sommers, starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Oded Fehr, Patricia Velásquez, Freddie Boath, Alun Armstrong, and Dway ...

'', ''

Lilo & Stitch ''Lilo & Stitch'' is a 2002 American animated science fiction comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 42nd Disney animated feature film, it was written and directed by Chris Sande ...

'', ''

Night at the Museum ''Night at the Museum'' is a 2006 fantasy comedy film directed by Shawn Levy and written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon. It is based on the 1993 children's book of the same name by Croatian illustrator Milan Trenc. The film had an ensem ...

'', '' G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra'', ''

Ready Player One ''Ready Player One'' is a 2011 science fiction novel, and the debut novel of American author Ernest Cline. The story, set in a dystopia in 2045, follows protagonist Wade Watts on his search for an Easter egg in a worldwide virtual reality ga ...

'' and several

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...

films, including the ''

Avengers Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to: Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of ...

'' films. He is a two-time

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

and

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

nominee, and a three-time

Saturn Award The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films be ...

and two-time

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

recipient.

Early life and education

Silvestri's grandparents emigrated in 1909 from the Italian town of

Castell'Alfero Castell'Alfero ( pms, Castel Alfé) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about north of Asti. Castell'Alfero borders the following municipalities: Asti, Calliano, ...

, and settled in

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, th ...

. He grew up in Teaneck, and graduated in 1968 from

Teaneck High School , motto_translation = To enrich the mind and improve the character , fundingtype = Public , schooltype = high school , grades = 9– 12 , district = Teaneck Public Schools , enrollment = 1,239 (as of 2021–22) , faculty = ...

. He attended

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

for two years. He was a drummer for a short time in 1966 with Teaneck-based rock band The Wildcats.

Career

Silvestri moved to Los Angeles in 1970. "I came to Hollywood in 1970 broke...I didn't even have any goals or plans. I didn't even go to movies. And I knew nothing about composers or composing," he said. In 1972, while he was working intermittently as a

session guitarist Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

, the producer of the low-budget action film '' The Doberman Gang'' asked him to score the picture. Silvestri agreed, despite a lack of experience: "I went out and bought a how-to-compose book by Earl Hagen... At one point I was using beer cans for percussion." From 1978 to 1983, Silvestri was the main composer for the television series ''

CHiPs ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. It follows the lives of two motorcycle officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The serie ...

'', writing music for 95 of the show's 139 episodes. Silvestri met film director

when they worked together on Zemeckis's film ''

Romancing the Stone ''Romancing the Stone'' is a 1984 action-adventure romantic comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Diane Thomas and produced by Michael Douglas, who also starred in the film. The film co-stars Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito. The fi ...

'' (1984). Since then, he has composed the music for all of Zemeckis's movies, including the ''Back to the Future'' trilogy (1985–1990), ''

'' (1988), ''

Death Becomes Her ''Death Becomes Her'' is a 1992 American satirical black comedy fantasy film directed and produced by Robert Zemeckis. Written by David Koepp and Martin Donovan, it stars Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn as rivals who fight for the affections of th ...

'' (1992), ''

'' (1994), ''

Contact Contact may refer to: Interaction Physical interaction * Contact (geology), a common geological feature * Contact lens or contact, a lens placed on the eye * Contact sport, a sport in which players make contact with other players or objects * ...

'' (1997), ''

'' (2000), ''

'' (2004), ''

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The ...

'' (2007), ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas C ...

'' (2009), ''

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

'' (2012) and '' The Walk'' (2015). In 1989, Silvestri composed the score for the James Cameron-directed film ''

''. Since 2001, he has also collaborated regularly with director

Stephen Sommers Stephen Sommers (born March 20, 1962) is an American filmmaker, best known for big-budget action movies, such as ''The Mummy'' (1999), its sequel, ''The Mummy Returns'' (2001), ''Van Helsing'' (2004), and '' G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra'' (2009). ...

, scoring the films ''

'' (2001), ''

Van Helsing A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across ...

'' (2004) and '' G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra'' (2009). Silvestri has composed the scores for four

films: '' Captain America: The First Avenger'' (2011), '' The Avengers'' (2012), '' Avengers: Infinity War'' (2018), and '' Avengers: Endgame'' (2019). His themes and motifs from those films have been referenced and reprised by other composers in multiple other MCU films. Silvestri has also composed music for television series, including ''

T. J. Hooker ''T. J. Hooker'' is an American police drama television program starring William Shatner in the title role as a 15-year veteran police sergeant. The series premiered as a mid-season replacement on March 13, 1982, on ABC and ran on the network un ...

'' (one episode), ''

Starsky & Hutch ''Starsky & Hutch'' is an American action television series, which consisted of a 72-minute pilot movie (originally aired as a ''Movie of the Week'' entry) and 92 episodes of 50 minutes each. The show was created by William Blinn (inspired by th ...

'' (three episodes), ''

Tales from the Crypt Tales from the Crypt may refer to: * ''Tales from the Crypt'' (album), by American rapper C-Bo * ''Tales from the Crypt'' (comics), published by EC Comics during the 1950s ** ''Tales from the Crypt'' (film), a 1972 Amicus film starring Ralph Ric ...

'' (seven episodes). In 2014, he composed the award-winning music for the science documentary series '' Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey''. He wrote new songs with

Glen Ballard Basil Glen Ballard Jr. (born May 1, 1953) is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer. He is best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's 1995 album ''Jagged Little Pill'', which won Grammy Awards for Grammy Award fo ...

for the live-action film adaptation of Disney's ''

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

''.

Personal life

Silvestri and his wife Sandra own a vineyard, Silvestri Vineyards, in

Carmel Valley, California Carmel Valley is an unincorporated community in Monterey County, California, United States. The term "Carmel Valley" generally refers to the Carmel River watershed east of California State Route 1, and not specifically to the smaller Carmel V ...

. He also has a wine tasting room for his vineyards on the ground floor of the

Enchanted Oaks Building Enchanted may refer to: Film * Enchanted (film), ''Enchanted'' (film), a 2007 Disney film * ''Okouzlená'' or ''Enchanted'', a 1942 Czech film * ''Enchanted'', a 1998 film featuring David Kaufman (actor), David Kaufman Literature * The Enchanted ...

. He has a daughter and two sons. A licensed pilot, he flies his own jet aircraft.

Awards

Silvestri has received two Academy Award nominations: Best Original Score for ''

'' (1994); and

Best Original Song This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

for " Believe" on ''

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

. He also received two

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

nominations: Best Score for ''Forrest Gump'' and Best Song for ''The Polar Express''. Silvestri received an

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

of Music from

in 1995. He has also received nine Grammy Award nominations, winning two awards: Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for "Believe" from ''The Polar Express'' in 2004; and Best Instrumental Composition for "Cast Away End Credits" from

in 2002. His other nominations were for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special and Best Instrumental Composition, for Back to the Future in 1985, Best Album of Original Instrumental Background Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television, for Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988, Best Instrumental Composition, for "Who Framed Roger Rabbit Suite" in 1989, Best Pop Instrumental Performance, for "I'm Forrest...Forrest Gump (The Feather Theme)" in 1994, Best Instrumental Composition, for Avengers: Infinity War in 2018 and Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media, for Avengers: Endgame in 2019. During the 2005 Grammy Awards,

Josh Groban Joshua Winslow Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. His first four solo albums have been certified multi-platinum, and he was charted in 2007 as the number-one best selling artist in the United States, wi ...

performed "Believe". He has won two Emmys, both for '' Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey'' –

Outstanding Main Title Theme Music This is a list of the winning and nominated programs of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music. In the 1980s and early 1990s, the award was presented with the "possibility of one, more than one, or no award given, ...

and Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for the episode "

Standing Up in the Milky Way "Standing Up in the Milky Way" is the first aired episode of the American documentary television series '' Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey''. It premiered on March 9, 2014, simultaneously on various Fox television networks, including National Geogr ...

". He has won the

Saturn Award for Best Music The Saturn Award for Best Music is one of the annual awards given by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The Saturn Awards, which are the oldest film-specialized awards to reward science fiction, fantasy, and horror achieve ...

three times, for his scores for ''

'' (1987), '' Back to the Future Part III'' (1989/90) and ''

'' (2004). On September 23, 2011, he received the Max Steiner Film Music Achievement Award from the City of

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

the yearly film-music gala concert Hollywood in Vienna.

Filmography

Film - 1970s and 1980s

Film - 1990s

Film - 2000s

Film - 2010s

Film - 2020s

Television series

References

External links

* * *
Alan Silvestri
at Soundtrackguide.net
Castell'Alfero (Italy) country of Asti of which it is City Honorarium
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Silvestri, Alan 1950 births 20th-century American composers 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American pianists 20th-century classical pianists 21st-century American composers 21st-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American pianists 21st-century classical pianists American classical composers American classical pianists American conductors (music) American contemporary classical composers American film score composers American male classical composers American male classical pianists American male conductors (music) American male film score composers American people of Italian descent American television composers Animated film score composers Berklee College of Music alumni Classical musicians from New Jersey Decca Records artists Hollywood Records artists Grammy Award winners Living people Male television composers Primetime Emmy Award winners Teaneck High School alumni Varèse Sarabande Records artists

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

Awards

Filmography

Film - 1970s and 1980s

Film - 1990s

Film - 2000s

Film - 2010s

Film - 2020s

Television series

See also

References

External links