Allison Schwartz

11/13/00

Composer Background

John Williams was born in New York on February 8^th, 1932. He moved to Los Angeles with his family when he was sixteen. He went to UCLA and studied composition privately, and then served in the air force. After that, he moved to New York and attended Juilliard, studying piano, and worked as a jazz pianist in clubs. After attending Juilliard, he moved back to Los Angeles to begin his career in film studios working with various composers. He wrote music for many television programs in the 1960’s, and won two Emmy awards for his work. In 1980, he became the nineteenth conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, since its founding in 1885.

John Williams composed and directed the music for more than seventy-five films. In addition to this film music, he has written concert pieces, including two symphonies.

The piece "Liberty Fanfare" was written by John Williams for the rededication of the Statue of liberty in 1986, which was the 100^th anniversary. It was performed by the Boston Pops Orchestra, with John Williams conducting. John Williams also composed the NBC News Theme, "The Mission" and "We’re Looking Good" for the Special Olympics.

This music is from the American culture, since the composer is American and it was written for the statue of liberty. It is written the contemporary American style like the works of Gershwin and Copland.