Final Thesis - John Williams - ScholarsArchive at Oregon State ...

Biography
As one of the most well known and financially successful composers in US
history, John Williams can easily be considered “America's composer.” In his career,
he has accumulated 45 Academy Award nominations with 5 wins, 5 Emmy Award
nominations with 2 wins, 19 Golden Globe nominations with 4 wins, 59 Grammy
Nominations with 18 wins, National Board of Review Career Achievement Award,
Kennedy Center Honor, 6 Saturn Awards, and 17 honorary degrees ("Reference:
Bibliography"). Williams is undoubtedly one of the most respected composers for
Cinema. His scores for such films as Jaws, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Schindler's List,
as well as the Indiana Jones series, have earned him several awards and led to
record breaking best-selling recordings. His scores for the original Star Wars trilogy
completely changed the style and landscape of Hollywood film music and became
iconic in American culture. Overall, he has served as the composer or music director
for over 80 films. In addition to film scores, he has composed a multitude of concert
pieces performed by other music greats such as Mstislav Rostropovich, André
Previn, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Gil Shaham, Leonard Slatkin, James Ingram, Dale
Clevenger, and Joshua Bell. He is also an accomplished conductor, and has led
several national and international orchestras, most notably as the nineteenth
conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra from 1980-1993, and currently serves as
the Boston Pops’ Conductor Laureate. He has broadened his musical expertise on
several occasions to compose pieces for television, such as several themes for NBC,
and four Olympic themes ("Reference: Bibliography"). But, however extensive and
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