Howard Shore was born on 18 October 1946 in Toronto, Canada and, began his musical career as a member of horn section of the popular band Lighthouse. His first efforts in music for entertainment was writing music for theatre in Canada (including early directorial efforts by his childhood friend, David Cronenberg), before he was hired to be the Musical Director of the hit American comedy sketch show “Saturday Night Live” in 1975. Shore’s first movie work also came as a direct result of his relationship with Cronenberg, and embarked upon his career with the 1978 cult classic “Rabid”. Until recently, Shore was regarded as composer who often adopted difficult, confrontational styles of writing which challenged the perceptions and ideas of film music and, although adept in a variety of genres, gained majority of his plaudits for his work in dark, uncertain world of thrillers and horrors. Titles such as “Scanners” (1981), “Videodrome” (1983), “The Fly” (1986), “Dead Ringers” (1988), “Naked Lunch” (1990), “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991), “Philadelphia” (1993), “Seven” (1995) and “The Cell” (2000), dominated his filmography, peppered with occasional lighter fare such as “Big” (1988), “Mrs. Doubtfire” (1993), “Ed Wood” (1994) and “Dogma” (1999), until he was contacted by New Zealand director Peter Jackson about his upcoming project. The project was his Lord of the Rings trilogy, and their collaboration resulted in the release of “The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001), “The Two Towers” (2002), and “The Return of the King” (2003), which launched Shore’s career into the stratosphere, won him an Oscar and two Golden Globes, and brought him a level of public recognition similar to that of the all time cinema greats.
