BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA, JANUARY 15, 2004 – The American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers (ASMAC) will honor Grammy® Award-winning composer Lalo Schifrin with its 65th Annual "Golden Score Award" on March 25, 2004 at the Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills, California. Ray Charles, Emmy Award-winning composer/arranger/lyricist/musical director and singer (affectionately known among music cognocenti as "the other Ray Charles") will receive ASMAC's Irwin Kostal Tribute Award.
Nominated for 21 Grammy® Awards (winning four) and six Oscars®, Schifrin, a prolific composer who has written more than 100 scores for film and television, is widely recognized for his scores for films as diverse as Cool Hand Luke, Bullitt, Dirty Harry, The Amityville Horror, Magnum Force, Enter The Dragon and recent box office successes Rush Hour and Rush Hour 2, along with Bringing Down the House. Schifrin is perhaps best known to the public for his inimitable jazz-inflected theme for the original hit television series "Mission Impossible," and was also featured as a main film theme in the blockbuster hit starring Tom Cruise.
Born and educated in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Schifrin also studied composition in Paris and is one of the founders of the Paris Philharmonic Orchestra, for which he was music director for five years. He has conducted with and written commissions for numerous orchestras all over the world, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Mexico Philharmonic and Glendale Symphony Orchestra. An accomplished pianist, Schifrin is also a frequent fixture at jazz festivals, having performed and recorded with such great jazz personalities as Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz and Count Basie.
Two-time Emmy® Award Winner Ray Charles, who for 35 years was choral director, vocal arranger and man-of-all music for Perry Como, served as choral director/arranger of "Your Hit Parade," one of television's pioneering musical specialty programs. He was also the musical director for the original Broadway production of "Finian's Rainbow." He has worked with shows as diverse as "The Muppet Show," and "Sha-Na-Na series, has been an instrumental music consultant for television specials involving, among many others, Julie Andrews, Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Dick Van Dyke, as well as The Academy Awards, The Grammy Show, Frank Sinatra's 75th Birthday Celebration, Bob Hope's 90th Birthday Celebration. Charles has been musical consultant for The Kennedy Center Honors for 21 years and works with PBS's highest-rated musical specials, "The Memorial Day Concert" and "A Capitol Fourth," for which he has been integrally involved as music consultant since 1991.
Charles is a board member for the Society of Singers, a non-profit organization that helps singers who have fallen on hard times and has frequently served as musical director for its annual Ella Award fundraising dinner/show. He is also a longtime member of ASMAC's board.
Proceeds of the evening will benefit ASMAC's educational programs and fund the "Don Costa, Gordon Jenkins, Nelson Riddle Memorial Scholarship for Musical Excellence in arranging and the "Irwin Kostal Memorial Scholarship" for composing,
The American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers was founded in 1938. Through monthly luncheons, seminars, master classes, workshops and award events, ASMAC strives to bring long term members into contact with students and young professionals seeking to become composers or arrangers in an unofficial mentorship program. The organization also offers annual scholarships in both arranging and composing.
The Golden Score event is open to the public. For information and ticket prices, contact The Proper Image at 818-994-4661. Further information about ASMAC's numerous programs and events is available through their web site, www.ASMAC.org.
Press Contact: Cathy Mouton (323) 668-2820; camouton@pacbell.net