Alan Silvestri

Alan Silvestri
Silvestri in 2009
Background information
Birth name	Alan Anthony Silvestri
Born	(1950-03-26) March 26, 1950 (age 74) New York City, New York, U.S.
Genres	Film score, contemporary classical, jazz, ambient, electronic
Occupation(s)	Composer, conductor, orchestrator, music producer
Years active	1972–present
Spouse	Sandra Silvestri ​ (m. 1978)​
Website	www.alansilvestri.com

Alan Anthony Silvestri (born March 26, 1950) is an American composer, conductor, orchestrator and music producer of film scores. He has received two Grammy Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.

He has been associated with director Robert Zemeckis since 1984, composing music for nearly all of his feature films including the Back to the Future film series (1985–1990), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Death Becomes Her (1992), Forrest Gump (1994), Contact (1997), What Lies Beneath (2000), Cast Away (2000), The Polar Express (2004), Beowulf (2007), Flight (2012) and The Walk (2015).

Silvestri also scored many other popular movies, including Predator (1987), The Abyss (1989), Father of the Bride (1991), The Bodyguard (1992), Eraser (1996), The Parent Trap (1998), Stuart Little (1999), The Mummy Returns (2001), Van Helsing (2004), Night at the Museum trilogy, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), The A-Team (2010), Ready Player One (2018), and several Marvel Cinematic Universe films, including the Avengers films.

Early life and education

Silvestri was born March 26, 1950.^[1] His grandparents emigrated in 1909 from the Italian town of Castell'Alfero, and settled in Teaneck, New Jersey.^[2] He grew up in Teaneck,^[3] and graduated in 1968 from Teaneck High School.^[4] He attended Berklee College of Music 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.^[5] In 1972, while he was working intermittently as a session guitarist, 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."^[5]

From 1978 to 1983, Silvestri was the main composer for the television series CHiPs, writing music for 95 of the show's 139 episodes.

Silvestri met film director Robert Zemeckis when they worked together on Zemeckis's film Romancing the Stone (1984). Since then, he has composed the music for all of Zemeckis's movies, including the Back to the Future trilogy (1985–1990), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Death Becomes Her (1992), Forrest Gump (1994), Contact (1997), Cast Away (2000), The Polar Express (2004), Beowulf (2007), A Christmas Carol (2009), Flight (2012), and The Walk (2015).

In 1989, Silvestri composed the score for the James Cameron-directed film The Abyss. Since 2001, he has also collaborated regularly with director Stephen Sommers, scoring the films The Mummy Returns (2001), Van Helsing (2004), and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009). He also composed the ImageMovers opening theme.

Silvestri has composed the scores for four Marvel Cinematic Universe 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 (one episode), Starsky & Hutch (three episodes), and Tales from the Crypt (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 for the live-action/CGI film adaptation of Disney's Pinocchio.^[6]

Personal life

Silvestri and his wife Sandra own a vineyard, Silvestri Vineyards, in Carmel Valley, California.^[7] He also has a wine tasting room for his vineyards on the ground floor of the Enchanted Oaks Building.^[8] He has a daughter and two sons. A licensed pilot, he flies his own jet aircraft.^[9]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1972	The Doberman Gang	Byron Chudnow
1975	Las Vegas Lady	Noel Nosseck
1976	The Amazing Dobermans	Byron Ross Chudnow
1978	The Fifth Floor	Howard Avedis
1983	Tiger Man	Matt Cimber	Credited as Alan Sylvestri
1984	Romancing the Stone	Robert Zemeckis	First collaboration with Robert Zemeckis
	Par où t'es rentré ? On t'a pas vu sortir	Philippe Clair
1985	Fandango	Kevin Reynolds
	Cat's Eye	Lewis Teague
	Back to the Future	Robert Zemeckis
	Summer Rental	Carl Reiner
1986	The Clan of the Cave Bear	Michael Chapman
	The Delta Force	Menahem Golan
	American Anthem	Albert Magnoli
	Flight of the Navigator	Randal Kleiser
	No Mercy	Richard Pearce
1987	Critical Condition	Michael Apted
	Outrageous Fortune	Arthur Hiller
	Predator	John McTiernan
	Overboard	Garry Marshall
1988	Mac and Me	Stewart Raffill
	Who Framed Roger Rabbit	Robert Zemeckis
	My Stepmother Is an Alien	Richard Benjamin
1989	She's Out of Control	Stan Dragoti
	The Abyss	James Cameron
	Back to the Future Part II	Robert Zemeckis
1990	Downtown	Richard Benjamin
	Back to the Future Part III	Robert Zemeckis
	Young Guns II	Geoff Murphy
	Predator 2	Stephen Hopkins	Also conductor
1991	Shattered	Wolfgang Petersen	Also orchestrator / Replaced Angelo Badalamenti
	Soapdish	Michael Hoffman	Also orchestrator
	Dutch	Peter Faiman	Also pianist
	Ricochet	Russell Mulcahy	Also conductor
	Father of the Bride	Charles Shyer
1992	Two-Fisted Tales	Richard Donner Tom Holland Robert Zemeckis	Segment: Yellow
	Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot	Roger Spottiswoode
	FernGully: The Last Rainforest	Bill Kroyer
	Death Becomes Her	Robert Zemeckis
	Diner	Graham Morris Karen Peterson	Short film
	The Bodyguard	Mick Jackson
	Sidekicks	Aaron Norris
1993	In Search of the Obelisk	Douglas Trumbull Arish Fyzee	IMAX film
	Cop and a Half	Henry Winkler
	Super Mario Bros.	Rocky Morton / Annabel Jankel	Replaced Jerry Goldsmith
	Judgment Night	Stephen Hopkins	Also conductor
	Grumpy Old Men	Donald Petrie
1994	Clean Slate	Mick Jackson
	Forrest Gump	Robert Zemeckis
	Blown Away	Stephen Hopkins	Also conductor
	Richie Rich	Donald Petrie
1995	The Quick and the Dead	Sam Raimi
	The Perez Family	Mira Nair
	Judge Dredd	Danny Cannon	Also conductor / Replaced David Arnold and Jerry Goldsmith
	Father of the Bride Part II	Charles Shyer
	Grumpier Old Men	Howard Deutch
1996	Sgt. Bilko	Jonathan Lynn	Also conductor
	Mission: Impossible	Brian De Palma	Rejected Score
	Eraser	Chuck Russell	Also conductor
	The Long Kiss Goodnight	Renny Harlin	Also conductor
1997	Fools Rush In	Andy Tennant
	Volcano	Mick Jackson	Also conductor
	Contact	Robert Zemeckis
	Mouse Hunt	Gore Verbinski
1998	The Odd Couple II	Howard Deutch	Also conductor
	The Parent Trap	Nancy Meyers
	Holy Man	Stephen Herek
	Practical Magic	Griffin Dunne
1999	Siegfried & Roy: The Magic Box	Brett Leonard	IMAX film
	Stuart Little	Rob Minkoff	Also conductor
2000	Reindeer Games	John Frankenheimer	Also conductor
	Cast Away	Robert Zemeckis	Also conductor
	What Lies Beneath		Also conductor and orchestrator
	What Women Want	Nancy Meyers	Also conductor and orchestrator
2001	The Mexican	Gore Verbinski
	The Mummy Returns	Stephen Sommers	Replaced Jerry Goldsmith
	Serendipity	Peter Chelsom	Also conductor
2002	Showtime	Tom Dey	Also conductor and orchestrator
	Lilo & Stitch	Chris Sanders Dean DeBlois	Also choir arranger and conductor
	Stuart Little 2	Rob Minkoff	Also conductor
	Maid in Manhattan	Wayne Wang
2003	Identity	James Mangold	Also conductor / Replaced Angelo Badalamenti
	Stitch! The Movie	Tony Craig / Bobs Gannaway	Themes only. Score composed by Michael Tavera
	Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life	Jan de Bont	Also conductor / Replaced Craig Armstrong and Graeme Revell
	Two Soldiers	Aaron Schneider	Short film; Also conductor
2004	Van Helsing	Stephen Sommers	Also conductor
	The Polar Express	Robert Zemeckis	Also conductor
2006	The Wild	Steve "Spaz" Williams	Also conductor
	Leroy & Stitch	Tony Craig / Bobs Gannaway	Themes only. Score composed by J. A. C. Redford
	Night at the Museum	Shawn Levy
2007	Beowulf	Robert Zemeckis	Also conductor and orchestrator
2009	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian	Shawn Levy	Also conductor
	G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra	Stephen Sommers	Also conductor and orchestrator
	G.I. Joe: The Invasion of Cobra Island	Rupinder Malhotra	Two-part web film
	A Christmas Carol	Robert Zemeckis	Also lyricist, conductor and orchestrator
2010	The A-Team	Joe Carnahan	Also conductor and orchestrator Themes by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter
2011	Captain America: The First Avenger	Joe Johnston	Also conductor and orchestrator
2012	The Avengers	Joss Whedon	Also conductor and orchestrator
	Flight	Robert Zemeckis
2013	The Croods	Chris Sanders / Kirk DeMicco	Also conductor and orchestrator
	RED 2	Dean Parisot	Themes by Christophe Beck
2014	Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb	Shawn Levy
2015	Avengers: Age of Ultron	Joss Whedon	Themes only; score composed by Brian Tyler and Danny Elfman
	The Walk	Robert Zemeckis
	Doc Brown Saves the World	Glenn Sanders Brett Levisohn Thomas Guindon
2016	Allied	Robert Zemeckis
2018	Ready Player One	Steven Spielberg	Replaced John Williams
	Avengers: Infinity War	Anthony & Joe Russo	Score composer only
	Welcome to Marwen	Robert Zemeckis	Also conductor
2019	Avengers: Endgame	Anthony & Joe Russo	Score conducted with Mark Graham
2020	The Witches	Robert Zemeckis
2022	Pinocchio		Also lyricist, conductor and orchestrator
2024	Here
2025	The Electric State	Anthony & Joe Russo
2026	Avengers: Doomsday
2027	Avengers: Secret Wars

Television

Year	Title	Channel	Notes
1978–1979	Starsky & Hutch	ABC	3 episodes
1978–1983	CHiPs	NBC	95 episodes
1983	Manimal		5 episodes
	T. J. Hooker	ABC – CBS	Episode: "A Child Is Missing"
1986	Amazing Stories	NBC	Episode: "Go to the Head of Class"
1989–1995	Tales from the Crypt	HBO	7 episodes
1991–1992	Back to the Future	CBS	Theme only
2014	Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey	Fox / National Geographic Channel	13 episodes
2020	Cosmos: Possible Worlds		13 episodes

Awards and nominations

Silvestri has received two Academy Award nominations: Best Original Score for Forrest Gump (1994); and Best Original Song for "Believe" on The Polar Express soundtrack. He also received two Golden Globe nominations: Best Score for Forrest Gump and Best Song for The Polar Express. Silvestri received an honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music in 1995.^[10]

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 Cast Away 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.^[11] During the 2005 Grammy Awards, Josh Groban performed "Believe".

He has won two Emmys, both for Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey – Outstanding Main Title Theme Music and Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for the episode "Standing Up in the Milky Way". He has won the Saturn Award for Best Music three times, for his scores for Predator (1987), Back to the Future Part III (1989/90), and Van Helsing (2004). On September 23, 2011, he received the Max Steiner Film Music Achievement Award from the City of Vienna the yearly film-music gala concert Hollywood in Vienna.

Association	Year	Category	Project	Result	Ref.
Academy Awards	1994	Best Original Score	Forrest Gump	Nominated	[12]
	2004	Best Original Song	The Polar Express ("Believe")	Nominated	[13]
Golden Globe Awards	1994	Best Original Score	Forrest Gump	Nominated	[14]
	2004	Best Original Song	The Polar Express ("Believe")	Nominated	[14]
Primetime Emmy Awards	2014	Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music	Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey	Won	[15]
		Outstanding Music Composition for a Series	Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey ("Standing Up in the Milky Way")	Won
Grammy Awards	1986	Best Instrumental Composition	Back to the Future	Nominated	[16]
		Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media		Nominated
	1989		Who Framed Roger Rabbit	Nominated	[17]
	1990	Best Instrumental Composition	Who Framed Roger Rabbit ("Who Framed Roger Rabbit Suite")	Nominated	[18]
	1995	Best Pop Instrumental Performance	Forrest Gump	Nominated	[19]
	2002	Best Instrumental Composition	Cast Away ("End Credits")	Won	[20]
	2006	Best Song Written for Visual Media	The Polar Express ("Believe")	Won	[21]
	2019	Best Instrumental Composition	Avengers: Infinity War	Nominated	[22]
	2020	Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media	Avengers: Endgame	Nominated	[23]

See also

• Music of Back to the Future
• Music of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

References

1. Rose, Mike (March 26, 2020). "Today's famous birthdays list for March 26, 2020 includes celebrities Keira Knightley, Martin Short". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
2. Meredith May, "Alan Silvestri pairs music with wine", SFGate (June 7, 2013).
3. Subscribe to Ali A ASCAP Henry Mancini Award Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, ASCAP. Accessed October 21, 2008. Manhattan-born and Teaneck, New Jersey-bred, Silvestri attended Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music before joining a Las Vegas band as a guitarist."
4. Coutros, Evonne. "The Drummer Whom Gump Marches To", The Record (Bergen County), March 26, 1995. Accessed October 21, 2008. "Nearly three decades after Alan Silvestri drummed out beats for the Teaneck High School band, he's hoping to march to the podium Monday night to collect an Oscar."
5. Stanley, John (November 9, 1986). "Composer Hits a High Note 'Overnight'". The San Francisco Examiner. p. Datebook 21.
6. "Pinocchio 2022 soundtrack: All the new and old songs in the Disney remake". Radio Times. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
7. "Home". Archived from the original on February 20, 2012. Retrieved November 26, 2009.. Silvestrivineyards.com. Retrieved on May 2, 2012.
8. Dramov, Alissandra (2019). Historic Buildings of Downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California: Arcadia Publishing. p. 63. ISBN 9781467103039. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
9. "ALAN SILVESTRI COMPOSER OF MUSIC FOR THE MOVIES by D'Lynn Waldron, PhD". Dlwaldron.com. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
10. "Clint Eastwood Honored by Berklee for Contributions to Jazz - Soundtrack.Net". Soundtrack.net.
11. "Alan Silvestri". Grammy.com. November 19, 2019. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
12. "67th Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
13. "77th Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
14. "Alan Silvestri - Golden Globes". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
15. "Nominees / Winners 2014 Emmy Awards". Television Academy. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
16. "28th Annual Grammy Awards". Grammy Awards. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
17. "32nd Annual Grammy Awards". Grammy Awards. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
18. "33rd Annual Grammy Awards". Grammy Awards. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
19. "37th Annual Grammy Awards". Grammy Awards. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
20. "45th Annual Grammy Awards". Grammy Awards. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
21. "48th Annual Grammy Awards". Grammy Awards. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
22. "61st Annual Grammy Awards". Grammy Awards. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
23. "62nd Annual Grammy Awards". Grammy Awards. Retrieved November 1, 2024.

External links

• Official website
• Alan Silvestri at IMDb
• Alan Silvestri at AllMusic
• Alan Silvestri at Soundtrackguide.net
• Castell'Alfero (Italy) country of Asti of which it is City Honorarium
• "Complete Alan Silvestri Discography". Billboard. Retrieved January 2, 2017.^{[dead link‍]}