Composer Elliot Goldenthal creates works for film, orchestra, theater, opera, and ballet.
Goldenthal received an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for his score for Frida directed by Julie 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 Interview With the Vampire and Michael Collins, both directed by Neil Jordan. Also notable among his more than 30 film scores are Michael Mann’s Public Enemies and Heat, Neil Jordan’s The Butcher Boy (Los Angeles Film Critics Award for Best Score), Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever, Gus Van Sant’s Drugstore Cowboy, his groundbreaking score for David Fincher’s Alien 3, 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 and presented with the ASCAP Founders Awards in Los Angeles.
Goldenthal composed the original music for an acclaimed production of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, for Theatre for a New Audience that received four Drama Desk Nominations including Outstanding Music in a Play. His Symphony in G Sharp Minor had its world premiere with the Pacific Symphony in Costa Mesa, CA, and received the Orange County Register’s Reger Award for “Best New Symphony.” An album of the symphony was also released. A cinematic theatrical experience of A Midsummer Night’s Dream had its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Goldenthal’s original two-act opera Grendel, directed by Julie Taymor, premiered at the Los Angeles Opera and was the centerpiece of the Lincoln Center Festival in New York. Goldenthal was named one of the two finalists for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in music for his work on Grendel.
Goldenthal has composed music for more than a dozen theatrical productions including Juan Darién: A Carnival Mass, which 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 four Drama Desk nominations. His other theatrical credits include The Transposed Heads, The Green Bird and The King Stag. Goldenthal composed original music and soundscapes for the play Grounded, starring Anne Hathaway at the Public Theater in New York.
Goldenthal recently composed the music for the Netflix-produced film, Our Souls at Night directed by Ritsh Batra for a September 2017 release. In October 2017, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia premiered a trumpet concerto written by Goldenthal for renowned Norwegian Trumpetist, Tine Thing Helseth. He also composed the original music for M BUTTERFLY starring Clive Owen on Broadway in the Fall of 2017.
Reel of Select Works
AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS
- 2015; Win, ASCAP Founders Award
- 2015; Win, Krakow Film Music Festival – 1st Annual Kilar Award
- 2014; Nomination; Drama Desk Awards, A Midsummer Night's Dream – Outstanding Music in a Play
- 2014; Win, Reger Awards – Best New Symphony
- 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