L.A. Studio Legends

L.A. Studio Legends #17: Gloria Cheng

Award-winning pianist talks her career as a classical performer specialized in contemporary repertoire and her many collaborations with John Williams, including her solos on Munich and The Adventures of Tintin, and the recent premiere of ‘Prelude and Scherzo’ for Piano and Orchestra Hosted by Maurizio Caschetto Pianist Gloria Cheng belongs in the category of instrumentalists who are true favourites of John Williams to the point of being even an inspiration for the composer. One of the most acclaimed musicians of his generation and an advocate of the contemporary repertoire and new-music, Gloria Cheng performed as pianist for John Williams in many film scores since the mid-2000s and has been spotlighted as soloist on such scores as Munich (2005), The Adventures of Tintin (2011) and War Horse (2011). She also performed on other Williams’ scores including The BFG, The Post, and the Star Wars sequel trilogy. In addition to the film work, Cheng also had the unique honour of performing Williams’ rare piano compositions for the concert hall: the 4-movement Conversations for solo piano (written and dedicated to her between 2013 and 2014), and the Prelude and Scherzo for piano and orchestra, which premiered in Barcelona in 2021 with the Orquesta Sinfónica del Vallès under Marc Timón, and later for its American premiere with the Albany Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Alan Miller. Gloria Cheng is one of the world’s leading interpreters of piano works by major composers and a true advocate for new music, establishing fruitful partnerships with such contemporary music icons as Gyorgy Ligeti, Pierre Boulez, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Terry Riley, Thomas Adès and Steven Stucky. Gloria Cheng also works frequently as pianist and keyboardist for film scores and has performed on soundtracks by by such composers as Randy Newman, James Horner, Michael Giacchino. In 2005, she began a fruitful association with John Williams that continues until this day. In this conversation, Gloria talks about her career as a classical performer and her path that led to perform as pianist for film scores; she recollectes her first experience playing for John Williams on Munich, the challenges of playing the solo on Tintin and her views on the Maestro’s style when writing for piano, reflecting upon her experiences playing Conversations and the Prelude and Scherzo. For more information, visit https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2022/08/05/gloria-cheng-podcast/

L.A. Studio Legends #16: JoAnn Turovsky

Harpist extraordinaire talks her career both as a classical musician and studio recording artist, including her many collaborations with John Williams on such scores as Angela's Ashes, A.I. Artificial Intelligence and The Book Thief Hosted by Maurizio Caschetto JoAnn Turovksy is one of the most accomplished and talented harpists in the world. She is Principal Harp of several Los Angeles-based orchestras: the L.A. Opera orchestra, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. In a career spanning now four decades, Turovsky has been lauded and revered with many accolades: she is the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the American Harp Society. Harp is an instrument very dear to John Williams as it's often prominently featured in a lot of his film and concert music. Harpist extraordinaire JoAnn Turovsky has possibly the longest and most impressive track record of playing a lot of John Williams' harp parts over the last three decades as his favoured principal harp for studio recordings in Los Angeles. Turovsky is heard playing exquisite harp solos on some of the composer's most lyrical and haunting film scores including Angela's Ashes, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Munich and The Book Thief. Turovsky's impeccable playing can be appreciated even when not playing a solo part, but when accompanying and enriching the orchestral texture, as the harp is used by Williams like a master orchestrator would do. JoAnn has also been a professor of harp at the USC Thornton School of Music for the past three decades and sits on the faculty of the Colburn Conservatory of Music and the Colburn School of Performing Arts, teaching the next generation of harpists. In this conversation, JoAnn Turovsky talks about her impressive career as a classical and studio musician, remembering her many experiences playing for John Williams, including her solo work for Angela's Ashes and The Book Thief, but also illuminating on the composer's use of harp and how he let the instrument shine within the orchestral palette. Visit https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/ for more information.

L.A. Studio Legends #15: Sally Stevens

Legendary singer and vocal contractor talks her illustrious career in Hollywood working in choirs and as soloist for many film composers, including her work for John Williams on Amistad and other projects Hosted by Maurizio Caschetto Film score recordings in Hollywood are performed not just by hundreds of talented orchestra musicians, but they often feature the superb work of great vocalists, singers and choirs. Sally Stevens is perhaps the most famous and distinguished singer and vocalist who lent her beautiful voice to countless film and television soundtracks and studio recordings in Los Angeles. Her resume includes work for illustrious film composers including John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Alan Silvestri, James Newton Howard, Danny Elfman, just to name a few, but also for some of the most famous names of the recording industry like Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Burt Bacharach among others, in a career spanning five decades and thousands of performances. Under the banner name Hollywood Film Chorale, she contracted choirs and singers for successful films including Edward Scissorhands, Batman Returns, The Abyss, Forrest Gump, The Matrix Revolutions, Jurassic World, among others, and also on popular tv shows as The Simpsons and Family Guy. She also served as choral director of the Oscars broadcasts for over 20 years, the most recent being the 2018 Academy Awards. Sally's collaboration with John Williams started in 1997, when she was asked to be vocal contractor for the film Amistad, directed by Steven Spielberg. She also collaborated on such films as Minority Report (2002), War of the Worlds (2005), Munich (2005), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015). In this conversation, Sally Stevens reminisces about her glorious career as a singer and vocal contractor working in Hollywood, from his early days singing in the choir for Alfred Newman's How The West Was Won to the work as soloist for Lalo Schifrin, Jerry Goldsmith and other great composers. She also recollects her experience working as a vocal contractor for John Williams on Amistad and other projects involving choirs and vocal soloists, sharing her own unique insight and perspective on Williams' choral writing and the use of human voice. For more information and the list of music excerpts visit https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2022/04/01/sally-stevens-podcast/

L.A. Studio Legends #14: Randy Kerber

Legendary pianist and keyboardist talks about his career and his collaborations with John Williams on numerous projects, including his iconic solos on such classic scores as Harry Potter, Angela’s Ashes, Lincoln and The Book Thief Hosted by Maurizio Caschetto Among the studio musicians who performed for John Williams during the last two decades, Randy Kerber occupies a special place. He’s one of the most accomplished pianists and keyboardists working in the studio environment, with an impressive resume that includes many legendary film composers (Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Michael Kamen, Randy Newman, Alan Silvestri), but also a great deal of iconic recording artists including Michael Jackson, Paul Anka, Leonard Cohen, Rickie Lee Jones, Whitney Houston, Michael Bolton, Rod Stewart, B.B. King, Bill Medley, Annie Lennox, Art Garfunkel, Anastacia, Celine Dion, Natalie Cole, Al Jarreau, Ray Charles. He’s also a Grammy-nominated composer and arranger, and worked as orchestrator for top Hollywood composers including James Horner and John Powell. He had the privilege of being appointed as featured piano soloist on several John Williams’ scores including Angela’s Ashes (1999), Lincoln (2012) and The Book Thief (2013) among others, but was also the keyboard soloist playing the celesta part of “Hedwig’s Theme” on the soundtrack for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001). His impressive career as one of the first-call studio keyboardist in Los Angeles also includes such unforgettable film scores as Forrest Gump (music by Alan Silvestri) and Titanic (music by James Horner), in which he can be heard performing exquisite piano solos. Kerber’s impeccable playing is also prominently featured in the Academy Award-winning musical La La Land, with music by Justin Hurwitz. n this conversation with The Legacy of John Williams, Randy Kerber talks about his career as a session musician, his early years working in the studio environment and how he became one of John Williams’ first-call musicians, from his first experiences as a synth programmer on such films as Always and Jurassic Park, to the prominent role as piano soloist on Angela’s Ashes, Lincoln and The Book Thief. Randy also talks about John Williams’ approach to piano writing and offers his take on the Maestro’s musicianship, reflecting on the various experiences as seen from his perspective as a studio musician. For more information and a list of the musical excerpts featured in the episode, visit https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2022/02/25/randy-kerber-podcast/(opens in a new tab)

L.A. Studio Legends: The Reunion

The great Los Angeles studio musicians reunite for the first time in years to celebrate John Williams Hosted and Produced by Maurizio Caschetto and Tim Burden The Legacy of John Williams is proud to present this special podcast episode dedicated to the legendary Los Angeles studio musicians who performed in dozens of film soundtracks by John Williams, including such iconic scores as Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Hook and Jurassic Park. L.A. STUDIO LEGENDS – The Reunion explores the unparalleled contribution that the great Los Angeles-based studio players brought to many of John Williams’ film soundtracks and recordings in a conversation with some of those world’s most legendary studio musicians who performed in principal roles on dozens of his scores recorded in Hollywood from the late 1960s until recent years: Flutists Louise Di Tullio and Sheridon Stokes, Pianist and Keyboardist Ralph Grierson, Trumpet player Malcolm McNab, French Horn player James Thatcher and Tuba player James Self. Joining the conversation is esteemed Conductor (and former studio Violinist) Richard Kaufman, one of the world’s leading interpreters of film music repertoire and also a personal friend of Maestro Williams. This spectacular ensemble of talented musicians, reuniting for the first time in years, offers a precious perspective on John Williams’ musicianship as a composer and conductor, recollecting the unforgettable performances on such classic film scores as Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and Jurassic Park among others and sharing many of their fond memories of playing for Maestro Williams. The event is hosted by The Legacy of John Williams’ Editor-In-Chief Maurizio Caschetto and Head Contributor Tim Burden. More info: https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2021/12/23/l-a-studio-legends-the-reunion-video Link to video version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ANAJK-hu_s

L.A. Studio Legends #13: Mike Lang

Legendary pianist and keyboardist talks his unparalleled career as a first-call studio musician on thousands of film scores for top film composers, including his many collaborations with John Williams, for whom he played on more than 30 films including The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno, The Eiger Sanction and Hook Pianist Mike Lang certainly doesn't need much introduction among the legendary musicians who performed on film and television soundtracks in the last 50 years. He represents the epitome of the greatness and versatility of the studio musician in several different ways, having performed with virtually all the greatest film composers since the 1960s in more than 2,000 film scores, in many cases as first pianist and keyboardist, but also with an impressive slew of iconic recording artists. Lang's resume is one of the most impressive among any living musician on the planet. Lang's career as pianist for film scores is the stuff of legend. He performed in thousands of film and television soundtracks serving virtually all the legendary film composers of the last 50 years including John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein, John Barry, Henry Mancini, Michel Legrand, Bill Conti, Hans Zimmer, Howard Shore, Danny Elfman, James Newton Howard. Mike Lang's collaborations with John Williams started in the early 1970s and continued until the very recent years, playing in scores like The Towering Inferno, The Eiger Sanction, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1941, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Always, Hook, Rosewood, Catch Me If You Can and many others. In this wide-ranging, fun conversation, Mike sits down with The Legacy of John Williams' Editor Maurizio Caschetto and Head Contributor Tim Burden to talk about his unparalleled career as one of the most sought-after studio musicians in the history of music, not just film scores, reminiscing on his beginnings, his training and his early years playing for film composers, including John Williams. Mike also offers his own unique insight about Williams' musicianship, the Maestro's skills as pianist and the evolution of his career, while pondering also on the life as a studio musician with all its unique aspects and idiosincracies. For more information, visit https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2021/11/16/mike-lang-podcast

L.A. Studio Legends #12: Stephen Erdody

Cellist extraordinaire talks his distinguished career as a studio musician in Hollywood and his many collaborations with John Williams, including his exquisite solo playing for such scores as Angela’s Ashes, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Memoirs of a Geisha and Munich, offering precious thoughts about the Maestro’s music and his creative process with musicians. Hosted by Maurizio Caschetto If you’ve heard an exquisite solo cello while watching a big Hollywood movie of the last 25 years, it’s very likely that you were listening to the stunning musical talent of Stephen Erdody. He’s one of the most distinguished and talented cellist working in the studio world, but also a very fine classical musician who have spent many years playing with symphony orchestras and chamber groups. His impeccable playing impressed also Maestro John Williams, who appointed him as principal cello of all his recordings in Los Angeles since 1999 until today. Stephen Erdody performed cello solos for John Williams on such scores as Angela's Ashes (1999), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Munich (2005), War Horse (2011) and The Book Thief (2013). He performed a duet with world-renowned cello superstar Yo-Yo Ma on the score for Memoirs of a Geisha, and also was 1st cello on the Star Wars sequel trilogy produced by Disney. In addition to film scores, Erdody was also principal cello on various recording projects, including the albums American Journey (2002), Yo-Yo Ma Plays the Music of John Williams (2002) and The Spielberg-Williams Collaboration Vol.3 (2017). Steve is the most renowned studio cellist working in Hollywood today and has recorded hundreds of film and television scores with many top film composers including Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard, Danny Elfman and Ludwig Goransson. You can hear some of Steve’s lovely solos on such scores as I Am Legend (James Newton Howard, 2009), The Pacific (Hans Zimmer, Geoff Zanelli & Blake Neely, 2010), August Rush (Mark Mancina, 2009).  In this conversation, Steve talks in-depth about his distinguished career as Hollywood’s preferred principal cello and his many collaborations with John Williams on such scores as Angela’s Ashes, Munich, Memoirs of a Geisha, War Horse and many others, offering his own deep thoughts and reflections about the uniqueness of Maestro Williams’ music and the role of the cello in his scores, telling many stories and anecdotes from decades of recording sessions with him. For more information and a list of musical excerpts go to https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2021/07/26/stephen-erdody-podcast

L.A. Studio Legends #11: Louise Di Tullio

Legendary flutist talks her incredible career as a performing artist, the legacy of her own musical family, the phenomenal streak of work as a studio musician in Hollywood and her many collaborations with John Williams on such iconic scores as Hook, Jurassic Park, War Horse and many others. Flutist Louise Di Tullio is one of the true icons among the generation of musicians performing in the Los Angeles area who came on the scene between the late 1950s and early 1960s. In an amazing career spanning almost six decades, Louise performed both as a world-class classical player and studio musician, often in the position of principal flute, for countless film scores, recording projects and live performances. A native of Los Angeles, Louise Di Tullio comes from a family of very distinguished musicians who had incredible careers as classical players and studio musicians. Louise started to play flute at a very young age and soon began to take lessons to become a professional musician. Before reaching the age of 20, Louise joined the LA Philharmonic, playing piccolo in the flute section, following in the footsteps of her father and two uncles. After six years with the Philharmonic, she found success in all aspects of the recording world. Louise started to perform in Hollywood studio orchestras, mostly as a piccolo player, and was contracted regularly to play for big name film composers including Alfred Newman, Jerry Goldsmith, John Barry and of course John Williams.  Louise’s first session with John Williams dates back in 1969 for the score for The Reivers. You can hear Louise’s playing, often performing both delicate and virtuosic piccolo parts, on such iconic scores as The Towering Inferno, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Fury, 1941 and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. In 1990, Louise inherited the first chair from Sheridon Stokes as principal flute for John Williams and from this moment onward her career as studio musician became the stuff of legend. As principal flute, Louise Di Tullio can be heard performing on many John Williams’ scores since 1990, including Home Alone 1 and 2, Hook, JFK, Far and Away, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, Rosewood, Seven Years in Tibet, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can, War of the Worlds, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Adventures of Tintin, War Horse, and The Book Thief. Besides her work in countless John Williams’ scores, Louise Di Tullio served as principal flute for many other great film composers, including Jerry Goldsmith, John Barry, James Horner, Lalo Schifrin, Bill Conti, James Newton Howard, Bruce Broughton, Danny Elfman, among others. Over the course of her extraordinary career, Louise performed on more than 1,200 motion pictures and tv films including some of Hollywood's biggest hits of the last 50 years. In this conversation, Louise reminisces for the first time since many years about the legacy of her extraordinary musical family, the first steps as a classical player, including performing under Igor Stravinsky. Louise talks extensively about her many years recording film scores with John Williams, from her first experiences playing piccolo on The Reivers and Jaws, to her playing as principal flute on scores like Hook, Jurassic Park and War Horse, recollecting many memories and sharing her point of view about the music and the art of Maestro John Williams. Visit https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2021/05/28/louise-di-tullio-podcast/ for more informations and the list of the musical excerpts featured in the episode.

L.A. Studio Legends #10: Sheridon Stokes

Legendary flutist talks his distinguished career as studio musician in Hollywood, from his early days performing under Alfred Newman at 20th Century Fox to his many collaborations with John Williams as first chair flute, including his solos in such scores as Jaws, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and The Witches of Eastwick, as well as the premiere of the Flute Concerto   Flutist Sheridon Stokes is one of the true all-time greats among Hollywood studio musicians. In a career spanning six decades, Sheridon Stokes became one of the most heard flute artists in the world mostly thanks to his impressive career in the film and television industry in Los Angeles. He has performed as principal flute on dozens of classic film scores including many by John Williams. For the Maestro, he performed solos on Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and The Witches of Eastwick. It’s his beautiful, crystalline tone that accompanies some of the most iconic scenes in those films. But, as you’ll hear in the episode, Sheridon and John Williams met long before the Maestro would become the most famous and celebrated film composer in history.   In this conversation, Sheridon talks about his illustrious life and career as one of the most venerable studio musicians in Hollywood, from his early days performing in the 20th Century Fox Orchestra under Alfred Newman to his meeting with a young John Williams in 1957. He talks at length about his first works with Williams in the early 1970s and the world concert premiere of the composer’s Flute Concerto with the UCLA orchestra in 1973. He also reminisces his flute solos on Jaws, E.T. and The Witches of Eastwick, and the work with composer Lalo Schifrin, offering his own unique insight into the great history of Hollywood’s film music.   For more information, visit https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2021/01/18/sheridon-stokes-podcast/

L.A. Studio Legends #9: Dan Higgins

Legendary saxophonist and woodwind specialist talks his career as studio musician in Los Angeles, from his early days as session player to his collaborations with Maestro John Williams, including the stunning alto saxophone solos he performed on the score for Steven Spielberg’s 2002 film Catch Me If You Can Saxophonist and woodwind specialist Dan Higgins is unquestionably one of the most talented session musicians on the planet and also highly respected among his peers. His stunning skills both as saxophonist and woodwind player on several instruments (including clarinet and flute) have been appreciated by a wide variety of composers and musicians with whom Higgins collaborated throughout his amazing career. He has performed in the woodwind section on several John Williams' film scores since the mid-1990s, but he's first and foremost remembered for the stunning alto saxophone solos he recorded on the brilliant score Maestro Williams composed in 2002 for the film Catch Me If You Can, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Tom Hanks. Born in Boston, MA, in 1955, Dan Higgins first distinguished himself as an outstanding saxophonist while attending University of North Texas. After moving to Los Angeles, Dan started to work as a freelance studio musician, mostly on record dates, but also on many recordings for television shows, including playing on live shows and specials, following the footsteps of other great saxophone players like Gene Cipriano, Ronnie Lang and Plas Johnson. His career as studio musician for the film and television industry is impressive: he has worked on 700+ motion picture scores and is a featured saxophone soloist on many great films with such notable composers as John Williams, Alan Silvestri, Marc Shaiman, Randy Newman, David Newman and Alexandre Desplat among others. Dan Higgins has worked extensively with John Williams for more than 25 years. His first collaboration was playing alto saxophone on a few “period music” source pieces that Williams arranged as part of the musical score for Schindler’s List (1993). However, the big breakthrough came in 2002, when the Maestro called upon Dan’s talents as soloist on alto saxophone for the score to Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can. The film was a box office hit and the score garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score. The success pushed Williams to prepare a three-movement concert suite based on the main thematic material from the score called Escapades for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra. Higgins premiered the concert suite with the Maestro on the podium conducting the Boston Pops Orchestra in May 2003 and subsequently appeared as guest soloist to perform the piece with notable orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In this conversation, Dan talks about his amazing career as studio musicians in Los Angeles, his early days as jazz musician, how he picked up the legacy from legendary studio saxophonists like Gene Cipriano and Ronnie Lang and also how he learned discipline from them. Dan talks extensively about the projects he did with John Williams, with a special focus on his soloist work on Catch Me If You Can, remembering the recording sessions for that film and offering his own unique insight into the creative process of Maestro Williams. Dan also recollects the work on The Adventures of Tintin and the unique instructions John Williams gave him before recording the zany “Canto Bight” jazz piece for The Last Jedi. For more information and the list of the musical excerpts, visit https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2021/01/08/dan-higgins-podcast/