La-La Land Records producers MV Gerhard and Matt Verboys accepted the both awards, accepting the Best Archival Re-Release of an Existing Score award on behalf of their fellow producers Didier C. Deutsch, Mike Matessino, Bruce Botnick and David C. Fein, liner note writer Jeff Bond, and album art director Jim Titus, for their stellar work re-releasing Jerry Goldsmith’s classic 1979 score Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Goldsmith’s Oscar-nominated masterpiece is widely regarded as one of the composer’s finest. Newly re-mastered from the original analogue 16-track 2-inch 30 i.p.s. masters, this lavish 3-CD set “presents the score for the 1979 theatrical release (filling disc 1 and part of disc 2) and also premieres the legendary early “rejected” cues that Goldsmith recorded prior to composing his famous main theme. The 1979 album program (much of which is performed and edited differently as compared to the film) completes disc 2, with disc 3 offering additional alternates (including those heard on the previous Sony expanded release) along with a wealth of bonus material. Among the highlights are a collection of early takes of the “Main Title” (including extensive stage chatter), isolated segments featuring Craig Huxley’s famous “blaster beam” and assorted synthesizer excerpts, the domestic CD debut of Bob James’ disco cover version of Goldsmith’s theme and Shaun Cassidy’s vocal version of the love theme, “A Star Beyond Time.”

Since releasing their first albums in 2002, Burbank, California-based La-La Land Records has become one of the most respected and acclaimed film music record labels in the world. Having already released over 250 titles over the last decade, 2012 saw a continuation of their astonishingly high quality series of releases, in which they released expanded and re-mastered versions of acclaimed scores such as Danny Elfman’s Planet of the Apes, John Williams’s Hook, Alfred Newman’s The Robe, Ennio Morricone’s The Untouchables, Hans Zimmer’s Black Rain, Alan Silvestri’s The Bodyguard, Elliot Goldenthal’s Batman Forever, a brand new recording of composer J.S. Zamecnik’s 1927 masterpiece Wings (the first ever Best Picture Oscar winner), and an astonishing 15-CD box set of music from the original 1966 Star Trek television series featuring music by composers Alexander Courage, George Duning, Jerry Fielding, Gerald Fried, Sol Kaplan, Samuel Matlovsky, Joseph Mullendore and Fred Steiner.

This is La-LaLand’s third straight win in this category from 9 previous nominations since 2004, and their special release albums have accumulated a total of 9 nominations since 2007. The other nominees in the re-release category were Ben-Hur by Miklós Rózsa (Film Score Monthly), Conan the Barbarian by Basil Poledouris (Intrada), Hook by John Williams (La-La Land) and the Star Trek: The Original Series box set (La-La Land). The other nominees in the record label category were Intrada, Moviescore Media, Quartet Records and Tadlow Music.

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This is Velázquez’s first IFMCA win; he was nominated for Film Score of the Year, Film Composer of the Year and Best Original Score for a Drama film for this score in 2012, and previously received a nomination in the Documentary category (Garbo: El Espía, 2009).  The other nominees in the Composition category were “The Cloud Atlas Sextet for Orchestra” from Cloud Atlas by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil; “John Carter of Mars” from John Carter by Michael Giacchino; “Pi’s Lullaby” from Life of Pi by Mychael Danna and Bombay Jayashri; and “The Peterson House and Finale” from Lincoln by John Williams.

The Impossible is a harrowing drama which follows a family devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, starring Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts, and directed by Juan Antonio Bayona. Velázquez’s contribution to the film is his beautiful, moving, string-led orchestral score, which brought the composer to international attention for the first time.

Velázquez’s career began with him as an accomplished cello player in various orchestras in Spain, before moving on to composition after studying in Madrid and Paris. Priot to working on The Impossible Velázquez composed such outstanding scores as Backwoods, Garbo the Spy, the internationally acclaimed horror score for El Orfanato (The Orphanage) – also for director Bayona - Shiver, Lope, Devil, Savage Grace and his recent horror score for Guillermo del Toro´s Mama.

Fernando is currently working on composing new scores for such different movies as a comedy based on the famous Spanish comics Zipi and Zape, and the fantasy  Mariah Mundi and the Midas Box.

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This is Murphy’s first nomination and first win. The other nominees in the comedy category were Moonrise Kingdom by Alexandre Desplat, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Dario Marianelli, The Sessions by Marco Beltrami, and Silver Linings Playbook by Danny Elfman.

Ted is a raucous, raunchy comedy directed by Seth MacFarlane and starring Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis about a young boy named John who makes a wish upon a star for his favorite teddy bear to come to life. Astonishingly, the bear does come to life, initiating a lifelong friendship between the unlikely pair… but flash forward 20 years and John still lives with Ted, who is no longer a cute child’s toy, but is a wisecracking, pot-smoking, sex-obsessed burden, much to the chagrin of John’s long-suffering girlfriend Lori.

Murphy’s music plays the comedy straight as an arrow with a fully orchestral and strongly thematic score, giving the relationship between John and Ted a jazzy, breezy, upbeat feeling, adding a touch of magic to the innocence that brought Ted to life, and giving the film’s second half some dramatic power through a series of exciting John Williams-esque action music. The main theme is also the basis of the Oscar-nominated song “Everybody Needs a Best Friend”, which was written by Murphy and MacFarlane, and performed by Norah Jones.

New York-born Murphy studied at the Manhattan School of Music, and began his career writing advertising jingles and jazz arrangements for Doc Severinsen of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, before rising to fame as the composer of the smash hit disco piece “A Fifth of Beethoven” – a reworked version of Beethoven’s Symphony No.5 in C Minor – which was a number one chart hit in October 1976, and featured on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.

Following this early success, Murphy quickly established himself as a major TV composer, working on shows such as Stingray, Wiseguy, Hunter, The Commish and Buffy the Vampire Slayer throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In recent years Murphy has found himself specializing in animation scoring, most notably for Seth MacFarlane’s trio of shows on the Fox network – Family Guy, American Dad and The Cleveland Show – for which he has received four Emmy nominations, winning in 2002.

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Photos by Holly McQuillan

SCL president Dan Foliart and SCL advisory board member Charles Bernstein introduced each of the composers and songwriters:

• Mychael Danna, who was nominated for Best Score for his outstanding Indian-flavored work on director Ang Lee’s Life of Pi, and for Best Song along with vocalist Bombay Jayashri, for the lush opening title piece “Pi’s Lullaby” from the same score.
• Alexandre Desplat, who was nominated for Best Score for his tense, Middle Eastern thriller score Argo.
• Paul Epworth, the co-writer of the powerful main title song “Skyfall” from the film of the same name, which he co-wrote with British pop sensation Adele.
• Dario Marianelli, who was nominated for Best Score for his elegant work on the beautiful Russian literary adaptation Anna Karenina.
• Walter Murphy, who co-wrote the jazzy “Everybody Needs a Best Friend” from the raucous comedy Ted with director Seth MacFarlane for vocalist Norah Jones.
• Thomas Newman, who was nominated for Best Score for his pulse pounding music for the blockbuster James Bond thriller Skyfall.
• J Ralph, who penned music in a classic Hollywood sound for the song “Before My Time” from the environmentally-themed documentary Chasing Ice, which was performed by actress Scarlett Johansson.
• Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil and Herbert Kretzmer, who wrote a new song entitled “Suddenly” for the new big screen version of their classic stage musical Les Miserables.
• and John Williams, who was nominated for Best Score for his poignant, noble, Americana-infused score for Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, about the last few months of the life of legendary American president.

Danna, Desplat, Marianelli, Murphy, Newman and Williams all also received IFMCA Award nominations for their work in 2012, with Danna, Desplat, Murphy, Newman and Williams all winning in their respective categories.

Also in attendance at the event were several other of this year’s IFMCA Award nominees, including Russell Brower and Neal Acree (nominated in the Game category for World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria), Joel Douek and Elik Alvarez (nominated in the Documentary category for Kingdom of Plants), Reinhold Heil (nominated in numerous categories for Cloud Atlas), Grant Kirkhope (nominated in the Game category for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning), and Zeltia Montes (nominated in the Breakout Composer category following her score for Vilamor).

The Society of Composers and Lyricists is the premier nonprofit organization for composers, lyricists, and songwriters working in the motion picture, television, and video games industry, and provides a wealth of support and educational resources to its members through seminars, workshops, screenings and various other events. For more information visit www.thescl.com

The IFMCA is honored to be able to support the Society of Composers and Lyricists in its work for the film music community.

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This is Aaltio’s first nomination and first win. The other nominees in the documentary category were Kingdom of Plants by Joel Douek, Freddy Sheinfeld and Elik Alvarez, Los Mundos Sutiles by Pascal Gaigne, Samsara by Lisa Gerrard and Michael Stearns, and Shakespeare & Us by Miguel d’Oliveira.

Metsän Tarina, known in English as The Tale of a Forest, is directed by Kim Saarniluoto and Ville Suhonen, and is a sweeping, beautiful look at the rich animal and plant life that makes its home in the spectacular forests of northern Finland, and the obstacles both must overcome as the seasons change. Thematic, expressive, colorful and lively, Aaltio’s multi-faceted orchestral score accompanies the trials and tribulations of those that live in the region with drama, adventure, playfulness, and a vivid sense of wonder. IFMCA member James Southall called Aaltio’s music “simply exquisite” and hailed the score as “one of the most impressive of 2012”

Aaltio was born in the small town of Nurmijärvi in Finland in 1982. A classically trained cellist since the age of six, Aaltio studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, and at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where he received the Harry Warren Scholarship for Excellence in Film Scoring. He began his career working with fellow Finnish composer Tuomas Kantelinen on scores such as Mother of Mine, Year of the Wolf and Arn: Tempelriddaren, and scored several small Finnish TV projects, before making his mainstream film music debut with the film The Tale of Dark Butterflies in 2008, for which he received a Jussi Award nomination, Finland’s equivalent of the Oscars

Since then, Aaltio’s credits have included the video game Apache Air Assault in 2010, the fantasy action-adventure Dawn of the Dragonslayer in 2011, and the thriller Syvälle Salattu (Body of Water), also in 2011. Three of his scores – including Metsän Tarina – have been released by the independent record label MovieScore Media, and are available for purchase here.

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Photos by Holly McQuillan

FEBRUARY 21, 2013 — The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) announces its list of winners for excellence in musical scoring in 2012. Unlike in previous years, where one score has taken multiple victories, the main film prizes are split equally between 11 different movies and composers, the greatest spread in IFMCA history.

The award for Score of the Year goes to Canadian composer MYCHAEL DANNA for his score for director Ang Lee’s vivid shipwreck drama LIFE OF PI. Danna’s dramatic and beautiful score made use of a large number of Indian musical elements in addition to a traditional western orchestra, capturing through music one the film’s key ideas, the collision of different cultures to form the large, ethnic melting pot from which the lead character, Pi Patel, originates. This is the first Score of the Year award from the IFMCA for Golden Globe winner and double-Oscar nominee Danna, who had never previously been nominated in this category, although he did receive five previous nominations in genre categories for scores such as BEING JULIA, THE NATIVITY STORY and THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS.

Hollywood A-lister DANNY ELFMAN was named Film Composer of the Year for his outstanding body of work in 2012, during which he composed music for such popular and successful films as DARK SHADOWS, FRANKENWEENIE, HITCHCOCK. MEN IN BLACK III, PROMISED LAND and SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK. Elfman’s music in 2012 ran the gamut of styles and genres, from the soft rock of Silver Linings Playbook to the Gothic atmospherics of Dark Shadows and Frankenweenie, to the subtle Bernard Herrmann echoes of Hitchcock, cementing his position as one of the most versatile and sought-after composers working today. This is the second Composer of the Year Award Elfman has received from the IFMCA, having previously been similarly honored for his work in 2008.

The IFMCA’s ongoing recognition of emerging talent in the film music world this year spotlights 37-year-old Colorado-born composer NATHAN JOHNSON, who was named Breakout Composer of the Year for his unconventionally percussive music for the acclaimed sci-fi thriller LOOPER. To create the film’s unique aural atmosphere Johnson took a standard small orchestra, featuring mainly strings and piano, and augmented them with a massive array of sampled sounds and processed percussion effects, ranging from trash can lids, an oscillating fan, and gunfire to hammered PVC tubes and fire alarms. The end result is cacophonous, unsettling, but weirdly fascinating music that somehow manages to bring together these seemingly random and incoherent musical collisions of sounds into a propulsive, exciting score.

Spanish composer FERNANDO VELÁZQUEZ wrote the IFMCA’s Film Music Composition of the Year – “The Impossible Main Title” from director Juan Antonio Bayona’s film THE IMPOSSIBLE, which tells the story of a family caught up in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Velázquez’s main title is an overwhelming emotional powerhouse, capturing both the tragedy of the situation and the sense of desperation felt by the family concerned. The score was recorded by the excellent string section of the London Metropolitan Orchestra at the historic Abbey Road Studios, and has been praised by numerous mainstream film critics as one of the outstanding elements of the film. This is the first IFMCA Award win for Velázquez, who was previously nominated for his scores EL ORFANATO (THE ORPHANAGE) in 2007 and GARBO: EL ESPÍA in 2009.

The various genre awards were won by JOHN WILLIAMS for director Steven Spieberg’s historical drama LINCOLN, WALTER MURPHY for the raucous comedy TED, THOMAS NEWMAN for his work on the near-universally lauded James Bond film SKYFALL, MICHAEL GIACCHINO for the epic Edgar Rice Burroughs space adventure JOHN CARTER, ALEXANDRE DESPLAT for the whimsical fantasy animation RISE OF THE GUARDIANS, and Finnish composer PANU AALTIO for his music for the beautiful nature documentary METSÄN TARINA.

In the non-film categories, British composer MURRAY GOLD won the award for Best Original Score for a Television Series for his outstanding work on the most recent season of the classic BBC science fiction show DOCTOR WHO, while composer AUSTIN WINTORY won the award for Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media for his score for the groundbreaking game JOURNEY, which earlier this year made history by being the first Video Game score nominated for a Grammy.

La-La Land Records won the Best Archival Release of an Existing Score award for their magnificent release of Jerry Goldsmith’s classic 1979 score STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE, newly re-mastered and re-released in a lavish 3-CD set. They also continued their monopoly of the Film Music Record Label of the Year category, winning for the third straight year, and solidifying their position at the top of the list of labels specializing in lovingly restoring the greatest film music of the past.

Finally, conductor Nic Raine and producers James Fitzpatrick and Luc Van de Ven won the Best Archival Re-Recording of an Existing Score award for the monumental re-recording of Miklós Rózsa’s score for the epic 1951 film QUO VADIS?, which featured stellar performances from the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

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THE WINNERS

FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR
• LIFE OF PI, music by Mychael Danna

FILM COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
• DANNY ELFMAN

BREAKOUT COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
• NATHAN JOHNSON

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DRAMA FILM
• LINCOLN, music by John Williams

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A COMEDY FILM
• TED, music by Walter Murphy

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER FILM
• SKYFALL, music by Thomas Newman

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION/HORROR FILM
• JOHN CARTER, music by Michael Giacchino

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ANIMATED FEATURE
• RISE OF THE GUARDIANS, music by Alexandre Desplat

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
• METSÄN TARINA, music by Panu Aaltio

FILM MUSIC COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR
• “The Impossible Main Title” from THE IMPOSSIBLE, music by Fernando Velázquez

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A TELEVISION SERIES
• DOCTOR WHO, music by Murray Gold

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A VIDEO GAME OR INTERACTIVE MEDIA
• JOURNEY, music by Austin Wintory

BEST ARCHIVAL RELEASE OF AN EXISTING SCORE
• STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE, music by Jerry Goldsmith; album produced by Didier C. Deutsch, Mike Matessino, Bruce Botnick, MV Gerhard, Matt Verboys and David C. Fein; liner notes by Jeff Bond and Mike Matessino; album art direction by Jim Titus (La-La Land)

BEST ARCHIVAL RE-RECORDING OF AN EXISTING SCORE
• QUO VADIS?, music by Miklós Rózsa; conducted by Nic Raine; album produced by James Fitzpatrick and Luc Van de Ven; liner notes by Frank K. DeWald; album art direction by GINKO DIGI (Prometheus/Tadlow)

FILM MUSIC RECORD LABEL OF THE YEAR
• LA-LA LAND RECORDS, MV Gerhard, Matt Verboys

This inaugural broadcast of IFMCA Radio celebrates the music nominated for the 2012 IFMCA Awards, and features selections by several members which represent, in their opinion, some of the best individual film, TV and video game cues from 2012.

The selections in this special 2-hour programme includes music from JOHN CARTER (Michael Giacchino), JOURNEY (Austin Wintory), SECRET OF THE WINGS (Joel McNeely), DOWNTON ABBEY (John Lunn), DOCTOR WHO (Murray Gold), CLOUD ATLAS (Tom Tykwer/Johnny Klimek/Reinhold Heil), RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (Alexandre Desplat), THE IMPOSSIBLE (Fernando Velázquez), METSÄN TARINA (Panu Aaltio), DANS LA MAISON (Philippe Rombi), TED (Walter Murphy), PARANORMAN (Jon Brion), STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE (Jerry Goldsmith), LINCOLN (John Williams), SKYFALL (Thomas Newman), THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (Hans Zimmer), KINGDOMS OF AMALUR: RECKONING (Grant Kirkhope), LIFE OF PI (Mychael Danna), ISABEL (Federico Jusid), ANNA KARENINA (Dario Marianelli), MOONRISE KINGDOM (Alexandre Desplat), BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (Dan Romer/Benh Zeitlin), WIR WOLLTEN AUFS MEER (Nic Raine), and QUO VADIS (Miklós Rózsa)

Participating members include:

• Jon Broxton, Movie Music UK
• Tim Burden, Film Score Monthly/Movie Magic
• Demetris Christodoulides, Score Magacine
• Christopher Coleman, TrackSounds
• Erin Veronica Corrado, One Movie Five Views
• Paul Cote, Cinemusic
• Clark Douglas, Movie Music UK/WHIE Radio
• Oscar Flores, Film Music Site
• Florent Groult, Underscores
• Dimitri Riccio, Colonne Sonore
• Alan Rogers, Reel Music/MainTitles
• Brian Satterwhite, Nuance Music/Film Score Focus
• Erik Woods, Cinematic Sound Radio

The complete list of 2012 IFMCA Award nominees can be found HERE.

The broadcast also includes a brand new piece of music, the “IFMCA Fanfare”, which was written exclusively for the IFMCA by composer David Coscina, as well as insert bumpers and liners by voiceover artist and broadcaster Roy Hall.

NOW PLAYING: IFMCA RADIO – BEST INDIVIDUAL CUES OF 2012 – PART I

NOW PLAYING: IFMCA RADIO – BEST INDIVIDUAL CUES OF 2012 – PART II

NOTE: The shows might take a few seconds to buffer.  Please be patient.

FEBRUARY 7, 2013 — The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) announces its list of nominees for excellence in musical scoring in 2012. The largest numbers this year are, for the most part, split evenly between four composers, all of whom received four nominations: MYCHAEL DANNA, ALEXANDRE DESPLAT, FERNANDO VELÁZQUEZ and veteran composer JOHN WILLIAMS.

The nominations for Danna, Velázquez and Williams were each for a single score – director Ang Lee’s vivid shipwreck drama LIFE OF PI, director Juan Antonio Bayona’s harrowing tsunami drama THE IMPOSSIBLE [LO IMPOSIBLE] and director Steven Spielberg’s look at the last months of the life of Abraham LINCOLN, respectively.

Desplat’s nominations were for his body of work in 2012 which included writing IFMCA Award-nominated music for the quirky comedy MOONRISE KINGDOM, the storybook animation RISE OF THE GUARDIANS, and the contemporary war thriller ZERO DARK THIRTY, as well as for the 1970s espionage thriller ARGO, the realistic French romantic drama RUST AND BONE [DE ROUILLE ET D’OS], the Italian satirical comedy REALITY, and the French-language biopic CLOCLO.

The other nominees for Film Score of the Year are the ambitious sci-fi drama CLOUD ATLAS by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil (two nominations), and director Peter Jackson’s epic fantasy prequel THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY by Howard Shore (two nominations).

Danna, Desplat, Velázquez and Williams are also short-listed for Film Composer of the Year along with DANNY ELFMAN, who enjoyed a stellar year composing music for such popular and successful films as DARK SHADOWS, FRANKENWEENIE, HITCHCOCK, MEN IN BLACK III, PROMISED LAND and SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK.

The IFMCA recognizes emerging talent in the film music world, and this year is no exception. The nominees in the Breakout Composer of the Year category include young Spanish composer ZELTIA MONTES for her work on the Spanish feature drama VILAMOR; composer DAN ROMER and composer/director BENH ZEITLIN for their captivating bluegrass-flavored score for the critically acclaimed BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD; JOSEPH TRAPANESE for his work on the animated TV show TRON: UPRISING; NATHAN JOHNSON for his unconventionally percussive music for the acclaimed sci-fi thriller LOOPER; and composer/conductor NIC RAINE, a long time associate of the late John Barry and contributor to Silva Screen and Tadlow Music’s series of re-recordings, who has begun to establish his own musical voice through his score for the German-language thriller WIR WOLLTEN AUFS MEER.

As it has in previous years, the IFMCA takes pride in honoring composers from across the film music world; this year’s international nominees include French composer Philippe Rombi for his work on director François Ozon’s thriller DANS LA MAISON, Finnish composer Panu Aaltio for the beautiful nature documentary score METSÄN TARINA, UK-based Portuguese composer Miguel d’Oliveira’s score for the BBC documentary SHAKESPEARE & US, Argentinean composer Federico Jusid’s music for the Spanish TV series ISABEL, and Japanese composer Naoki Sato’s contribution to the Japanese TV series PRICELESS.

Several composers are receiving their first ever IFMCA Award nominations this year, including JON BRION (Paranorman, Animation), ROBERT FOLK (There Be Dragons – Secretos de Pasión, Drama), PASCAL GAIGNE (Los Mundos Sutiles, Documentary), GRANT KIRKHOPE (Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Video Game), WALTER MURPHY (Ted, Comedy), FREDERIK WIEDMANN (Green Lantern: The Animated Series, Television), and the team from Blizzard Entertainment led by RUSSELL BROWER and NEAL ACREE (World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, Video Game).

The International Film Music Critics Association will announce the winners of the 9th IFMCA Awards on February 21, 2013.

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THE NOMINEES

2012 Film Categories

FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR

• CLOUD ATLAS, music by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil
• THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY, music by Howard Shore
• THE IMPOSSIBLE, music by Fernando Velázquez
• LIFE OF PI, music by Mychael Danna
• LINCOLN, music by John Williams

FILM COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

• MYCHAEL DANNA
• ALEXANDRE DESPLAT
• DANNY ELFMAN
• FERNANDO VELÁZQUEZ
• JOHN WILLIAMS

BREAKOUT COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

• NATHAN JOHNSON
• ZELTIA MONTES
• NIC RAINE
• DAN ROMER & BENH ZEITLIN
• JOSEPH TRAPANESE

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DRAMA FILM

• ANNA KARENINA, music by Dario Marianelli
• THE IMPOSSIBLE, music by Fernando Velázquez
• LIFE OF PI, music by Mychael Danna
• LINCOLN, music by John Williams
• THERE BE DRAGONS – SECRETOS DE PASIÓN, music by Robert Folk

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A COMEDY FILM

• MOONRISE KINGDOM, music by Alexandre Desplat
• SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN, music by Dario Marianelli
• THE SESSIONS, music by Marco Beltrami
• SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, music by Danny Elfman
• TED, music by Walter Murphy

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER FILM

• THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, music by James Horner
• DANS LA MAISON, music by Philippe Rombi
• THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, music by Hans Zimmer
• SKYFALL, music by Thomas Newman
• ZERO DARK THIRTY, music by Alexandre Desplat

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION/HORROR FILM

• CLOUD ATLAS, music by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil
• THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY, music by Howard Shore
• JOHN CARTER, music by Michael Giacchino
• PROMETHEUS, music by Marc Streitenfeld, additional music by Harry Gregson-Williams
• SINISTER, music by Christopher Young

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ANIMATED FEATURE

• BRAVE, music by Patrick Doyle
• FRANKENWEENIE, music by Danny Elfman
• PARANORMAN, music by Jon Brion
• RISE OF THE GUARDIANS, music by Alexandre Desplat
• SECRET OF THE WINGS, music by Joel McNeely

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

• KINGDOM OF PLANTS, music by Joel Douek, Freddy Sheinfeld and Elik Alvarez
• LOS MUNDOS SUTILES, music by Pascal Gaigne
• METSÄN TARINA, music by Panu Aaltio
• SAMSARA, music by Lisa Gerrard and Michael Stearns
• SHAKESPEARE & US, music by Miguel d’Oliveira

FILM MUSIC COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR

• “The Cloud Atlas Sextet for Orchestra” from CLOUD ATLAS, music by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil
• “The Impossible Main Title” from THE IMPOSSIBLE, music by Fernando Velázquez
• “John Carter of Mars” from JOHN CARTER, music by Michael Giacchino
• “Pi’s Lullaby” from LIFE OF PI, music by Mychael Danna and Bombay Jayashri
• “The Peterson House and Finale” from LINCOLN, music by John Williams

Other 2012 Categories

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A TELEVISION SERIES

• DOCTOR WHO, music by Murray Gold
• DOWNTON ABBEY, music by John Lunn
• GREEN LANTERN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, music by Frederik Wiedmann
• ISABEL, music by Federico Jusid
• PRICELESS, music by Naoki Sato

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A VIDEO GAME OR INTERACTIVE MEDIA

• JOURNEY, music by Austin Wintory
• KINGDOMS OF AMALUR: RECKONING, music by Grant Kirkhope
• RESISTANCE: BURNING SKIES, music by Jason Graves and Kevin Riepl
• STARHAWK, music by Christopher Lennertz
• WORLD OF WARCRAFT: MISTS OF PANDARIA, music by Russell Brower, Neal Acree, Sam Cardon, Edo Guidotti and Jeremy Soule

BEST ARCHIVAL RELEASE OF AN EXISTING SCORE

• BEN-HUR, music by Miklós Rózsa; album produced by Lukas Kendall, Mike Matessino and Neil S. Bulk; liner notes by Jeff Bond and Frank K. DeWald; album art direction by Joe Sikoryak (Film Score Monthly)
• CONAN THE BARBARIAN, music by Basil Poledouris; album produced by Nick Redman and Douglass Fake; liner notes by Nick Redman; album art direction by Joe Sikoryak (Intrada)
• HOOK, music by John Williams; album produced by Didier C. Deutsch, Mark G. Wilder, MV Gerhard and Matt Verboys; liner notes by Daniel Schweiger; album art direction by Jim Titus (La-LaLand)
• STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE, music by Jerry Goldsmith; album produced by Didier C. Deutsch, Mike Matessino, Bruce Botnick, MV Gerhard, Matt Verboys and David C. Fein; liner notes by Jeff Bond and Mike Matessino; album art direction by Jim Titus (La-La Land)
• STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES, music by Alexander Courage, George Duning, Jerry Fielding, Gerald Fried, Sol Kaplan, Samuel Matlovsky, Joseph Mullendore and Fred Steiner; album produced by Lukas Kendall, Neil S. Bulk, Jeff Bond, MV Gerhard, and Matt Verboys; liner notes by Jeff Bond; album art direction by Joe Sikoryak (La-La Land)

BEST ARCHIVAL RE-RECORDING OF AN EXISTING SCORE

• THE ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN/ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, music by Max Steiner; conducted by William Stromberg; album produced by William Stromberg, John Morgan and Anna Bonn; liner notes by James V. d’Arc, Ryan Brennan and Curt Hardaway; album art direction by Jim Titus (Tribute Film Classics)
• NOTRE DAME DE PARIS – THE MUSIC OF MAURICE JARRE, music by Maurice Jarre; conducted by Nic Raine; album produced by James Fitzpatrick; liner notes by James Fitzpatrick and Frank K. DeWald; album art direction by Damien Doherty (Tadlow)
• QUO VADIS?, music by Miklós Rózsa; conducted by Nic Raine; album produced by James Fitzpatrick and Luc Van de Ven; liner notes by Frank K. DeWald; album art direction by GINKO DIGI (Prometheus/Tadlow)
• THE RED HOUSE, music by Miklós Rózsa; conducted by Allan Wilson; album produced by Kevin Kaska and Douglass Fake; liner notes by Dan Robbins and Frank K. DeWald; album art direction by Joe Sikoryak (Intrada)
• WINGS, music by J.S. Zamecnik; conducted by Peter Boyer and Ira Hearshen; album produced by Dominik Hauser, Jeannie Gayle Pool, Dan Goldwasser, MV Gerhard and Matt Verboys; liner notes by Jeannie Gayle Pool; album art direction by Dan Goldwasser (La-La Land)

FILM MUSIC RECORD LABEL OF THE YEAR

• INTRADA RECORDS, Douglass Fake, Roger Feigelson
• LA-LA LAND RECORDS, MV Gerhard, Matt Verboys
• MOVIESCORE MEDIA, Mikael Carlsson
• QUARTET RECORDS, Jose M. Benitez
• TADLOW MUSIC, James Fitzpatrick

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The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) is an association of online, print and radio journalists who specialize in writing about original film and television music.

Since its inception, the IFMCA has grown to comprise almost 60 members from countries as diverse as Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

Previous IFMCA Score of the Year Awards have been awarded to John Williams’ WAR HORSE in 2011, John Powell’s HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON in 2010, Michael Giacchino’s UP in 2009, Alexandre Desplat’s THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON in 2008, Dario Marianelli’s ATONEMENT in 2007, James Newton Howard’s LADY IN THE WATER in 2006, John Williams’ MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA in 2005 and Michael Giacchino’s THE INCREDIBLES in 2004.

Sergio is from Màlaga, Spain, has interviewed a host of Spanish composers and was present at many a festival in the Iberian region.

Thor specializes in and taught Media Studies at Oslo University in Norway, and has been publishing film music reviews and articles in print media, internet, radio and television for many years.

Please visit our member’s section for  more detailed biographies.

This is Bource’s first IFMCA win. In addition to this nomination Bource was also nominated for Film Score of the Year, Film Composer of the Year, Best Original Score for Drama Film, and Film Music Composition of the Year for the “George Valentin” track. The other nominees in the Breakout Composer category were Brian Byrne (Albert Nobbs), The Chemical Brothers (Hanna), Michael Richard Plowman (Age of Heroes, A Lonely Place to Die) and Lucas Vidal (Mientras Duermes).

The Artist, directed by Michel Hazanavicius, is a black-and-white silent film starring Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo and John Goodman, which follows the life of silent movie heartthrob George Valentin, whose comfortable life as one ofHollywood’s leading men is threatened by his affair with a beautiful ingénue and the imminent arrival of talking pictures. Being a silent film, Bource’s score had to carry all the emotional weight of the story, and as such cleverly mixes upbeat 1920s marches to depict Valentin’s carefree existence with clever Korngoldian period score pastiche and more dramatic and weighty material to depict Valentin’s slow decline into depression.

Bource began composing composing music for commercials and short films in the 1990s, before making his feature film scoring debut in 2006. He scored OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies and its 2009 sequel, OSS 117: Lost in Rio, both of which were also directed by Michel Hazanavicius and starred Jean Dujardin, before moving on to The Artist

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