51st Chicago International Film Festival to Honor Howard Shore

The 51st Chicago International Film Festival, presented by Cinema/Chicago, will honor acclaimed composer and orchestrator Howard Shore in recognition of his contributions to film and television with a tribute and award ceremony on Sunday, October 18, 2015. Howard Shore is one of the most versatile, talented, and respected composers and music conductors working today. He has collaborated with such prominent directors as Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, Tim Burton, David Fincher, Arnaud Desplechin, and David Cronenberg, among numerous others. Shore's work on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy was recognized with three Academy Awards, two Golden Globes and many other honors.

Presented by Gold Festival Partner Wintrust Community Banks, the Howard Shore Tribute will include an on-stage interview with Shore, film clips and music celebrating his remarkable career. The Festival will present him with a Gold Hugo Career Achievement Award. Passes for the Chicago International Film Festival are now on sale. Individual tickets and the complete Festival schedule will be available on September 22. Visit http://www.chicagofilmfestival.com for information.

Howard Shore has composed music for more than 75 films, including Panic Room, A History of Violence, Doubt, Hugo, The Departed, The Aviator, Gangs of New York, Ed Wood, The Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia, and Mrs. Doubtfire. Shore's musical interpretation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, as portrayed in the films directed by Peter Jackson, have enthralled people of all generations for years. This work stands as his most acclaimed composition to date, awarding him three Academy Awards, four Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes as well as numerous critics'and festival awards.

Today, Shore's music is performed in concert halls around the world by the most prestigious orchestras and plays in cinemas across the globe. His The Lord of the Rings Symphony and The Lord of the Rings - Live to Projection concerts have had over 340 performances by the world's most prestigious orchestras. He is an Officier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la France and has also been recognized by Canada with the Governor General's Performing Arts Award. The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures honored Howard Shore with an award for Career Achievement for Music Composition and the City of Vienna bestowed him with the Max Steiner Award. Shore has received numerous other awards for his career achievements.

Perhaps most notable from his early career, Shore was one of the creators of Saturday Night Live and served as musical director from 1975 - 1980. At the same time he began collaborating with David Cronenberg and has since scored 15 of the director's films, including The Fly, Crash, and Naked Lunch. He was awarded Canadian Screen Awards for MAPS TO THE STARS for score and COSMOPOLIS for both score and song. His original scores to A Dangerous Method, Eastern Promises,and Dead Ringerswere each honored with a Genie Award. Shore continues to distinguish himself with a wide range of projects, from Martin Scorsese's Hugo, The Departed, The Aviator (for which he won his third Golden Globe Award) and Gangs of New York to Ed Wood, Se7en, The Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia, and Mrs. Doubtfire.

Other recent works include the piano concerto Ruin and Memory for Lang Lang (2010), THE SONG cycle A Palace Upon the Ruins, featuring mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson, Cano (2014), a cello concerto Mythic Gardens, featuring Sophie Shao (2012), and Fanfare for the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia (2008). His opera, The Fly (2008), which premiered at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and at Los Angeles Opera, recently completed a successful run in Germany at the Theatre Trier.

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