Aaron Copland, John Corigliano, Hugo Friedhofer, Paul Glass, Earle Hagen, Bernard Herrmann, Jerry Goldsmith, Gustav Mahler, Ennio Morricone, Witold Lutoslawski, Igor Stravinsky, John Williams
Record Label
Centaur
Type of Label
Indie
About Bruce Babcock
Comments About Bruce Babcock . . .
AARON COPLAND -
"An impression of
musicality which is
very pleasant, indeed...
a convincing sense of an overall mood...
knows what he wants ... sure of what he's doing."
JOHN CORIGLIANO -
"EVENT HORIZON is wonderful...a terrific sense
of the orchestra."
HUGO FRIEDHOFER – “I hear a bit of the Viennese in that boy, and I refer of course to both the First and Second Viennese Schools.”
EARLE HAGEN - “Bruce Babcock is knowledgeable, studied, and in command of his art. He is an exceptional composer, orchestrator and arranger.”
THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE -
Settings of three Rilke poems...
evoked poetic colors rare
for the philosophical changes
of the life journey.
THE LOS ANGELES TIMES -
The lyrical "SOLILOQUY"
by Bruce Babcock
(composed for James Galway)
received a relaxed rendition from Lisa Edelstein
THE SANTA BARBARA NEWS PRESS -
Mr. Babcock's TRIO (for clarinet, viola and piano, 2003) featured a multitude of original ideas matched by a keen sensitivity to the color and character of his chosen instruments. Listeners rejoiced in the perky, quirky spirit of this superbly crafted piece.
THE SANTA BARBARA INDEPENDENT -
Babcock has a unique and very pleasant voice.
THE KANSAS CITY TIMES -
Haunting strings, sharply
syncopating brass and rattling percussion ...
created a tense modernistic
excitement.
Bruce Babcock was born in Pasadena, California, and grew up in Santa Barbara. He began his musical studies on clarinet and later concentrated on jazz alto saxophone before making the transition to full-time composer. He holds Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in music composition from California State University, Northridge. At CSUN his teachers included Aurelio de la Vega, George Skapski, Daniel Kessner and Frank Campo. As a performer, he studied clarinet with George Rowe, retired clarinetist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and was a member of the All-California High School Orchestra. His saxophone studies at CSUN were with William Calkins.
While still a student, Bruce Babcock won a Young Musicians Foundation
(Los Angeles) competition for his "Music for String Orchestra." The premiere was conducted by Calvin Simmons
at Royce Hall, UCLA. His other concert works have been performed by the Kansas City Symphony ("Orchestral Sketches"), the San Francisco Chamber Players ("Initiation" for tenor and chamber orchestra, on texts of Rainer Maria Rilke, featuring Jonathan Mack of the Los Angeles Music Center Opera) and in such local venues as UCLA's Schoenberg Hall, Los Angeles City Hall, and the Bing Theater at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Bruce Babcock has spent most of his career writing music for television and film. He learned his craft from such Hollywood luminaries as Hugo Friedhofer, Earle Hagen and Paul Glass.
He received six consecutive Emmy nominations between the years 1990 and 1995, winning in 1992 in the category of outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic underscore) for an episode of "Matlock." He has also been nominated for scores - and in one case, a song -- for "Murder, She Wrote" and "Father Dowling Mysteries." He received his seventh and eighth Emmy nominations for his work on the animated series "Casper" in 1997 and 1998. A member of BMI, Bruce Babcock has received eight BMI TV/Film Awards for his television music, and has contributed orchestrations to such films as "King Kong," "Die Hard," "Lethal Weapon," and "Spider-Man 3."
Bruce’s most recent concert commissions include "Tribute," for Twelve Horns, which has been performed by the Horn Ensembles at USC, UCLA and Eastman, and "5-4-4" for the Los Angeles Trombone Quartet. His TRIO for clarinet, viola and piano, commissioned for Pacific Serenades, was premiered the spring of 2004. The 2005 Santa Barbara Chamber Music Festival
, of which Bruce was the composer-in-residence, premiered two new works commissioned by SBCMF Artistic Director Daniel Kepl entitled "the present moment," for string quartet, and “imagined/remembered," for cello and piano. “imagined/remembered" was performed again at the 2006 Beverly Hills International Music Festival by cellist Jacub Omsky and pianist Genevieve Lee.
His latest instrumental work, "irrational exuberance," for alto saxophone, cello and piano, commissioned by Los Angeles Philharmonic member and UCLA professor Douglas Masek, premiered at an Idyllwild Arts faculty concert in Southern California in August of 2005. This piece appears as Track One on Doug’s “EclectSax" (CRC 2865) on the Centaur label, released in April, 2008.
His choral work, “Night Songs,” two a cappella settings of Sara Teasdale poems, was premiered by The Donald Brinegar Singers in January of 2006, and is published by Santa Barbara Music Publishing (The Donald Brinegar Choral Series).
“SpringScape,” the winner of the 2006 Debussy Trio Composition Competition, has been recorded for the next Debussy Trio album, to be released in 2008. “Springscape” is published by Fatrock Ink Music Publishers.
“Send Me Anywhere,” an a cappella setting of a blessing by John Shelby Spong, was premiered by Canterbury Choir, All Saints Church, Pasadena, CA in 2006. “All Unto Me,” an a cappella setting of John 12:32 inspired by a sermon by Archbishop Desmond Tutu at ASC in 2005, was premiered by Coventry Choir, ASC, on April 27, 2008. Both were conducted by ASC Director of Music James Walker.
COMPOSING AWARDS
PRIME TIME EMMYS
1992, Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore) "Matlock," NBC, Viacom
DAYTIME EMMY NOMINATIONS (2)
1999 - “CASPER,” FOX, Universal, Amblin, Harvey Entertainment
1998 - “CASPER,” FOX, Universal, Amblin, Harvey Entertainment
BMI PRIMETIME TELEVISION MUSIC AWARDS (8)
"Murder, She Wrote," 1995, 1994, 1993
"Matlock," 1993, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MUSIC ARRANGERS & COMPOSERS (ASMAC)
Career Consistent Achievement Award, 2004
FEATURE FILM CREDITS
AS ORCHESTRATOR AND/OR CONDUCTOR
Tropic Thunder, Mr. Magorium, Spider-Man 3, Trick ‘r Treat, Blades of Glory, Blood Diamond, You, Me & Dupree, Little Man, Monster House, Invincible, King Kong, Derailed, Venom, Four Brothers, Zathura, The Legend of Zorro, Idiocracy, Rebound, Sin City, The Game of Their Lives, Beauty Shop, Aliens of the Deep, Team America, Spider-Man 2, Dodgeball, Something the Lord Made, Ladder 49, Envy, The Core, Willard, Final Destination II, Abandon, Country Bears, Unfaithful, Murder By Numbers, Swordfish, Scenes Of The Crime, The Animal, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, The Glass House, Sweet November, Little Nicky, Charlie’s Angels, Recess: School’s Out, Bless The Child, U-571, Final Destination, Wonder Boys, Stuart Little, House On Haunted Hill, The Magic Box, Entrapment, Mystery Men, Doug’s First Movie, Lethal Weapon, Lethal Weapon 2, Lethal Weapon 3, Lethal Weapon 4, Lost In Space, Batman & Robin, Diehard, Diehard 2, Diehard 3, Tommy Boy, Naked Gun 33 1/3, The Last Boy Scout, Robin Hood, Prince Of Thieves, The Package, Clean And Sober, Adventures In Baby-Sitting
SELECTED TELEVISION CREDITS
ANIMATED TELEVISION SERIES / “CASPER,” Fox Kids Network, 1997-1999
PRIME TIME SERIES NETWORK CREDITS / “Murder, She Wrote,”
“Diagnosis: Murder,” “Matlock,” “Father Dowling,” “Jake & the Fatman,”
“Falcon Crest,” “Island Son,” “Guns of Paradise,” “MacGyver”
GOLD/PLATINUM RIAA RECORDINGS CREDITS
Orchestrations w/ Michael Kamen for the “METALLICA” album
“S&M” (Symphony & Metallica) with the San Francisco Symphony
Orchestrations w/ Michael Kamen for the “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” motion picture soundtrack album
