As many of you are no doubt watching this year’s 86th Academy Awards this evening, Rob Ford isn’t the only Toronto connection making his way down the glamorous red carpet.
Violinist and composer Owen Pallet is nominated for best original score with William Butler, of Montreal’s Arcade Fire, for their work on the Spike Jonze film, Her.
They are up against some stiff competition with John Williams (The Book Thief), Steven Price (Gravity), Alexandre Desplat (Philomena) and Thomas Newman (Saving Mr. Banks).
Since landing in Los Angeles last week, Owen reported his dinner experience with an impressive list of who’s who Hollywood film composers.
“I just had dinner with Charlie Fox, Thomas Newman, Randy Newman, Burt Bacharach, Alexandre Desplat, Steven Price and John Williams. They shared stories about ‘Crazy’ Bernard Herrmann, Nadia Boulanger, Gershwin and Hitchcock. It was amazing.”
Go Owen!
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You may remember last year, Owen brought his Violin Concerto to the Toronto Symphony New Creations Festival with the Finnish soloist Pekka Kuusisto.