About
Composer ELLIOT GOLDENTHAL creates works for orchestra, theater, opera, ballet and film.
In 2006, his original two-act opera Grendel, directed by Julie Taymor, premiered at the Los Angeles Opera and had its east coast debut as the centerpiece of the Lincoln Center Festival in New York. He was named one of the two finalists for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in music for his work on Grendel.
Goldenthal was commissioned by the American Ballet Theatre to compose a three-act ballet of Othello, which debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in May 1997. Othello was choreographed by Lar Lubovitch. In October 2009, the Joffrey Ballet showcased Othello in nine performances in Chicago and revived it again in spring 2013.
His large-scale symphonic piece, Fire Water Paper: A Vietnam Oratorio, was commissioned by the Pacific Symphony to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. It was released in 1996 on Sony Classical Records and featured soloist Yo-Yo Ma. It debuted at the Pacific Symphony and was later performed at Carnegie Hall and at The Kennedy Center, with Seiji Ozawa conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Goldenthal has composed music for more than a dozen theatrical productions including Juan Darién: A Carnival Mass which was directed by Taymor. It received five Tony nominations including Best Musical, and Original Musical Score for Goldenthal when it was produced at Lincoln Center, an Obie Award Off-Broadway for Goldenthal, as well as fourDrama Desk nominations. His other theatrical credits include The Transposed Heads, The Green Bird and The King Stag directed by Andrei Serban.
Goldenthal received an Academy Award® and Golden Globe Award for his score for Frida directed by Taymor, having also received Oscar nominations for the film’s original song “Burn It Blue” with lyrics by Taymor, and Oscar nominations for his music for Neil Jordan’s Interview With the Vampire and Michael Collins. Also notable among his more than 30 film scores are Michael Mann’s Public Enemies and Heat, Neil Jordan’s The Butcher Boy and Julie Taymor’s The Tempest, Across The Universe, and Titus. Additionally, he has received two Golden Globe nominations and three Grammy Award nominations. Goldenthal was inducted into the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Hall of Fame in Spring 2013.
Goldenthal most recently composed the original music for a production of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Julie Taymor for Theatre for a New Audience in Fall 2013.
AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS
2007; Finalist, Pulitzer Prize in Music for Grendel
2004; Nomination, Emmy Awards, “Great Performances: Dance in America” – Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special
2004; Win, ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards, S.W.A.T. – Top Box Office Film Score
2003; Win, World Soundtrack Awards, Frida – Best Original Soundtrack of the Year
2003; Win, World Soundtrack Awards, Frida – Soundtrack Composer of the Year
2003; Nomination, World Soundtrack Awards, “Burn It Blue” from Frida – Best Original Song Written for a Film
2002; Win, Academy Awards, Frida – Best Original Score
2002; Nomination, Academy Awards, Frida, “Burn It Blue” – Best Original Song
2002; Win, Golden Globes, Frida – Best Original Score
2002; Nomination, World Soundtrack Awards, “The Dream Within” from Final Fantasy: The Sprits Within – Best Original Song Written for a Film
1999; Nomination, CFCA Awards, The Butcher Boy – Best Original Score
1998; Win, ASCAP Awards, Batman & Robin – Top Box Office Film Score
1998; Nomination, Chicago Film Critics Awards, The Butcher Boy – Best Original Score
1998; Win, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, The Butcher Boy – Best Original Score
1997; Nomination, Tony Awards, “Juan Darien: A Carnival Mass” (Broadway Production) – Best Original Musical Score
1997; Win, ASCAP Awards, A Time to Kill – Top Box Office Film Score
1997; Nomination, Grammy Awards, “Defile and Lament” from A Time to Kill
1996; Nomination, Academy Awards, Michael Collins – Best Original Score
1996; Nomination, Golden Globes, Michael Collins – Best Original Score
1996; Win, ASCAP Awards, Batman Forever – Top Box Office Film Score
1995; Nomination, Grammy Awards, Batman Forever – Best Instrumental Composition
1995; Win, ASCAP Awards, Interview with the Vampire – Top Box Office Film Score
1995; Nomination, Golden Globes, Interview with the Vampire – Best Original Score
1994; Nomination, Academy Awards, Interview with the Vampire – Best Original Score
1994; Win, ASCAP Awards, Demolition Man – Top Box Office Film Score
1990; Win, Edinburgh Festival Critics Choice Award, “Juan Darien: A Carnival Mass” – Best Music
1990; Win, American Academy of Arts and Letters Richard Rodgers Award, “Juan Darien: A Carnival Mass” – Best Music
1988; Win, Obie Award, “Juan Darien: A Carnival Mass” (Original Production) – Best Music
Other awards include the Arturo Toscanini Award, the New Music for Young Ensembles composition prize, the Stephen Sondheim Award in Music Theater, and a New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship