CINEFILER

Paul Chihara

Born
July 9, 1938
Paul Seiko Chihara (born July 9, 1938) is an American composer. Chihara was born in Seattle, Washington in 1938. A Japanese American, he spent three years of his childhood with his family in an internment camp in Minidoka, Idaho due to Executive Order 9066. Chihara received a BA and an MA in English literature from the University of Washington and Cornell University, respectively. He received a DMA in 1965 from Cornell, studying with Robert Palmer. He also studied composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris, Ernst Pepping in West Berlin, and Gunther Schuller in Tanglewood. He was the first composer-in-residence of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Neville Marriner, and was most recently part of the music faculty of UCLA, where he was the head of the Visual Media Program. As of 2015, Chihara is on the faculty of New York University as an Artist Faculty in Film Music. His close connection with music for dramatic forms extends into film and television, for which he has written nearly 100 scores. His first film score was for Roger Corman's Death Race 2000 (1975), and came at a point that he decided to leave academia to pursue a living as a composer. His exit from the university environment, and into film music also produced a change in his concert music. It was at this point that he moved away from the 12-tone and freely chromatic styles he had employed up to then, and embraced a more tonal style. He has worked with directors Sidney Lumet, Louis Malle, Michael Ritchie, and Arthur Penn. His film credits include Sweet Revenge (1976), I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977), The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978), A Fire in the Sky (1978), Prince of the City (1981), The Legend of Walks Far Woman (1982), The Survivors (1983), Crackers (1984), Impulse (1984), The Morning After (1986), Forever, Lulu (1987), The Killing Time (1987), Crossing Delancey (1988), and Penn & Teller Get Killed (1989). His television credits include The Dark Secret of Harvest Home, Dr. Strange, Brave New World, Noble House, Frederick Forsyth Presents (1989), and the pilot and theme music to Manimal, among others. He also composed the score for Shōgun: The Musical, based on James Clavell's novel. Shōgun had a short run on Broadway, from November 1990 to January 1991. Chihara's notable students include James Horner, Sean Friar, Joseph Trapanese, and Cynthia Tse Kimberlin. Description above from the Wikipedia page Paul Chihara, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Prince of the City
(1981)
Original Music Composer
Death Race 2000
(1975)
Original Music Composer
Dr. Strange
(1978)
Original Music Composer
The Bad News Bears Go to Japan
(1978)
Original Music Composer
Strip Search
(2004)
Music
The Morning After
(1986)
Music
The Survivors
(1983)
Original Music Composer
Crossing Delancey
(1988)
Original Music Composer
Crackers
(1984)
Music
Full Filmography
Sound
Death Race 2000
(1975)
Original Music Composer
Sweet Revenge
(1976)
Original Music Composer
The Keegans
(1976)
Music
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
(1977)
Music
A Fire in the Sky
(1978)
Original Music Composer
Dr. Strange
(1978)
Original Music Composer
Four Journeys Into Mystic Time: Mysterium
(1978)
Music
Night Cries
(1978)
Original Music Composer
Deathmoon
(1978)
Music
Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery
(1978)
Music
The Bad News Bears Go to Japan
(1978)
Original Music Composer
Act of Violence
(1979)
Music
Mind Over Murder
(1979)
Original Music Composer
The Darker Side of Terror
(1979)
Original Music Composer
The Children of An Lac
(1980)
Original Music Composer
The Promise of Love
(1980)
Music
Brave New World
(1980)
Original Music Composer
Prince of the City
(1981)
Original Music Composer
The Ambush Murders
(1982)
Music
The Rules of Marriage
(1982)
Original Music Composer
Miss All-American Beauty
(1982)
Original Music Composer
Sophisticated Ladies
(1982)
Music Consultant
The Survivors
(1983)
Original Music Composer
The Haunting Passion
(1983)
Original Music Composer
Jane Doe
(1983)
Original Music Composer
Crackers
(1984)
Music
With Intent to Kill
(1984)
Music
Impulse
(1984)
Music
Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story
(1984)
Music
The Bad Seed
(1985)
Original Music Composer
Right to Kill?
(1985)
Original Music Composer
Toughlove
(1985)
Music
A Bunny's Tale
(1985)
Original Music Composer
Picking Up the Pieces
(1985)
Original Music Composer
We're Puttin' on the Ritz
(1986)
Original Music Composer
The Morning After
(1986)
Music
A Case of Deadly Force
(1986)
Original Music Composer
Resting Place
(1986)
Original Music Composer
Jackals
(1986)
Music
When the Bough Breaks
(1986)
Original Music Composer
Forever, Lulu
(1986)
Original Music Composer
The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James
(1986)
Original Music Composer
A Walk on the Moon
(1987)
Music
Haunted by Her Past
(1987)
Original Music Composer
The Killing Time
(1987)
Original Music Composer
The King of Love
(1987)
Music
Crossing Delancey
(1988)
Original Music Composer
Shooter
(1988)
Original Music Composer
Killer Instinct
(1988)
Original Music Composer
Penn & Teller Get Killed
(1989)
Original Music Composer
Bridesmaids
(1989)
Original Music Composer
Dark Holiday
(1989)
Original Music Composer
Rock Hudson
(1990)
Original Music Composer
A Little Piece of Sunshine
(1990)
Original Music Composer
Quicksand: No Escape
(1992)
Original Music Composer
Strip Search
(2004)
Music
Jasmine
(2022)
Music Producer
Data provided by TMDB