Paul Chihara

Paul Chihara

  • Birthday: 1938-07-09
  • Place of birth: Seattle, Washington, USA

Biography

Paul Seiko Chihara (born July 9, 1938) is an American composer. Chihara was born in Seattle, Washington in 1938. A Japanese American, he spent three years of his childhood with his family in an internment camp in Minidoka, Idaho due to Executive Order 9066. Chihara received a BA and an MA in English literature from the University of Washington and Cornell University, respectively. He received a DMA 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 was most recently part of the music faculty of UCLA, where he was the head of the Visual Media Program. As of 2015, Chihara is on the faculty of New York University as an Artist Faculty in Film 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 (1975), and came at a point that he decided to leave academia to pursue a living as a composer. His exit from the university environment, and 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 film credits include Sweet Revenge (1976), I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977), The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978), A Fire in the Sky (1978), Prince of the City (1981), The Legend of Walks Far Woman (1982), The Survivors (1983), Crackers (1984), Impulse (1984), The Morning After (1986), Forever, Lulu (1987), The Killing Time (1987), Crossing Delancey (1988), and Penn & Teller Get Killed (1989). His television credits include The Dark Secret of Harvest Home, Dr. Strange, Brave New World, Noble House, Frederick Forsyth Presents (1989), and the pilot and theme music to Manimal, among others. He also composed the score for Shōgun: The Musical, based on James Clavell's novel. Shōgun had a short run on Broadway, from November 1990 to January 1991. Chihara's notable students include James Horner, Sean Friar, Joseph Trapanese, and Cynthia Tse Kimberlin. Description above from the Wikipedia page Paul Chihara, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Production

Prince of the City

1981

As Original Music Composer

Death Race 2000

1975

As Original Music Composer

Penn & Teller Get Killed

1989

As Original Music Composer

The Bad Seed

1985

As Original Music Composer

We're Puttin' on the Ritz

1986

As Original Music Composer

Act of Violence

1979

As Music

Right to Kill?

1985

As Original Music Composer

The Ambush Murders

1982

As Music

A Walk on the Moon

1987

As Music

A Fire in the Sky

1978

As Original Music Composer

The Children of An Lac

1980

As Original Music Composer

Sweet Revenge

1976

As Original Music Composer

Dr. Strange

1978

As Original Music Composer

The Survivors

1983

As Original Music Composer

Crossing Delancey

1988

As Original Music Composer

The Promise of Love

1980

As Music

The Morning After

1986

As Music

Night Cries

1978

As Original Music Composer

Mind Over Murder

1979

As Original Music Composer

Crackers

1984

As Music

The Haunting Passion

1983

As Original Music Composer

Toughlove

1985

As Music

Strip Search

2004

As Music

Deathmoon

1978

As Music

Jane Doe

1983

As Original Music Composer

Bridesmaids

1989

As Original Music Composer

A Case of Deadly Force

1986

As Original Music Composer

Dark Holiday

1989

As Original Music Composer

With Intent to Kill

1984

As Music

Resting Place

1986

As Original Music Composer

The Rules of Marriage

1982

As Original Music Composer

Rock Hudson

1990

As Original Music Composer

Impulse

1984

As Music

Miss All-American Beauty

1982

As Original Music Composer

Shooter

1988

As Original Music Composer

The Darker Side of Terror

1979

As Original Music Composer

A Bunny's Tale

1985

As Original Music Composer

A Little Piece of Sunshine

1990

As Original Music Composer

Haunted by Her Past

1987

As Original Music Composer

Brave New World

1980

As Original Music Composer

Jackals

1986

As Music

The Keegans

1976

As Music

When the Bough Breaks

1986

As Original Music Composer

Picking Up the Pieces

1985

As Original Music Composer

The Killing Time

1987

As Original Music Composer

Quicksand: No Escape

1992

As Original Music Composer

Killer Instinct

1988

As Original Music Composer

Forever, Lulu

1986

As Original Music Composer

The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James

1986

As Original Music Composer

The Bad News Bears Go to Japan

1978

As Original Music Composer

Sophisticated Ladies

1982

As Music Consultant

Jasmine

2022

As Music Producer

The King of Love

1987

As Music

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