Paul Chihara

AKA:
1.1323

1938-07-09

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.

Crew Roles

Bridesmaids
Original Music Composer
Prince of the City
Original Music Composer
A Bunny's Tale
Original Music Composer
Haunted by Her Past
Original Music Composer
Brave New World
Original Music Composer
A Little Piece of Sunshine
Original Music Composer
Death Race 2000
Original Music Composer
Penn & Teller Get Killed
Original Music Composer
A Case of Deadly Force
Original Music Composer
Dark Holiday
Original Music Composer
Jackals
Music
The Bad Seed
Original Music Composer
Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story
Music
With Intent to Kill
Music
We're Puttin' on the Ritz
Original Music Composer
The King of Love
Music
Resting Place
Original Music Composer
The Rules of Marriage
Original Music Composer
Act of Violence
Music
Rock Hudson
Original Music Composer
Impulse
Music
Right to Kill?
Original Music Composer
The Keegans
Music
When the Bough Breaks
Original Music Composer
Picking Up the Pieces
Original Music Composer
Miss All-American Beauty
Original Music Composer
The Ambush Murders
Music
The Killing Time
Original Music Composer
A Walk on the Moon
Music
Shooter
Original Music Composer
The Darker Side of Terror
Original Music Composer
Quicksand: No Escape
Original Music Composer
A Fire in the Sky
Original Music Composer
Killer Instinct
Original Music Composer
The Children of An Lac
Original Music Composer
The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James
Original Music Composer
Sweet Revenge
Original Music Composer
Forever, Lulu
Original Music Composer
Dr. Strange
Original Music Composer
The Survivors
Original Music Composer
The Bad News Bears Go to Japan
Original Music Composer
The Morning After
Original Music Composer
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
Original Music Composer
Strip Search
Original Music Composer
Sophisticated Ladies
Music Consultant
Jasmine
Music Producer
Romance & Cigarettes
Additional Music
Crossing Delancey
Original Music Composer
The Promise of Love
Music
Four Journeys Into Mystic Time: Mysterium
Music
Night Cries
Original Music Composer
Mind Over Murder
Original Music Composer
Crackers
Music
Toughlove
Music
The Haunting Passion
Original Music Composer
Jane Doe
Original Music Composer
Deathmoon
Music
Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery
Music
Roanoak
Music
Noon Wine
Original Music Composer
Death Has A Bad Reputation
Original Music Composer
The Adventures of Con Sawyer and Hucklemary Finn
Compositing Lead
Original Music Composer
Original Music Composer
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