Biography
Paul Seiko Chihara (born July 9, 1938) is an American composer. Chihara was born in Seattle, Washington in 1938. A Japanese American, he spent three years of his childhood with his family in an internment camp in Minidoka, Idaho due to Executive Order 9066.
Chihara received a BA and an MA in English literature from the University of Washington and Cornell University, respectively. He received a DMA in 1965 from Cornell, studying with Robert Palmer. He also studied composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris, Ernst Pepping in West Berlin, and Gunther Schuller in Tanglewood.
He was the first composer-in-residence of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Neville Marriner, and was most recently part of the music faculty of UCLA, where he was the head of the Visual Media Program. As of 2015, Chihara is on the faculty of New York University as an Artist Faculty in Film Music.
His close connection with music for dramatic forms extends into film and television, for which he has written nearly 100 scores. His first film score was for Roger Corman's Death Race 2000 (1975), and came at a point that he decided to leave academia to pursue a living as a composer. His exit from the university environment, and into film music also produced a change in his concert music. It was at this point that he moved away from the 12-tone and freely chromatic styles he had employed up to then, and embraced a more tonal style.
He has worked with directors Sidney Lumet, Louis Malle, Michael Ritchie, and Arthur Penn. His film credits include Sweet Revenge (1976), I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977), The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978), A Fire in the Sky (1978), Prince of the City (1981), The Legend of Walks Far Woman (1982), The Survivors (1983), Crackers (1984), Impulse (1984), The Morning After (1986), Forever, Lulu (1987), The Killing Time (1987), Crossing Delancey (1988), and Penn & Teller Get Killed (1989). His television credits include The Dark Secret of Harvest Home, Dr. Strange, Brave New World, Noble House, Frederick Forsyth Presents (1989), and the pilot and theme music to Manimal, among others.
He also composed the score for Shōgun: The Musical, based on James Clavell's novel. Shōgun had a short run on Broadway, from November 1990 to January 1991.
Chihara's notable students include James Horner, Sean Friar, Joseph Trapanese, and Cynthia Tse Kimberlin.
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Filmography
all 80
Movies 77
TV Shows 3
Producer 1
Jasmine (2022)
Sensitivity Training (2016)
Strip Search (2004)
Baby Snatcher (1992)
Quicksand: No Escape (1992)
The Price of the Bride (1990)
A Little Piece of Sunshine (1990)
Family of Spies (1990)
Pride and Extreme Prejudice (1990)
Rock Hudson (1990)
Death Has A Bad Reputation (1990)
A Casualty of War (1989)
Penn & Teller Get Killed (1989)
Dark Holiday (1989)
Just Another Secret (1989)
Bridesmaids (1989)
Killer Instinct (1988)
Shooter (1988)
Crossing Delancey (1988)
King of the Olympics: The Lives and Loves of Avery Brundage (1988)
The King of Love (1987)
The Killing Time (1987)
Haunted by Her Past (1987)
Almost Partners (1987)
We Are the Children (1987)
A Walk on the Moon (1987)
Baby Girl Scott (1987)
The Morning After (1986)
Forever, Lulu (1986)
When the Bough Breaks (1986)
We're Puttin' on the Ritz (1986)
Roanoak (1986)
Resting Place (1986)
A Case of Deadly Force (1986)
A Deadly Business (1986)
The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James (1986)
Jackals (1986)
Crime of Innocence (1985)
Picking Up the Pieces (1985)
Toughlove (1985)
Right to Kill? (1985)
The Cousteau Collection N°21-1 | A Reluctant Ally: The Mississippi (Part 1) (1985)
A Bunny's Tale (1985)
The Bad Seed (1985)
Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story (1984)
With Intent to Kill (1984)
Impulse (1984)
Cover Up (1984)
Crackers (1984)
The Haunting Passion (1983)
Manimal (1983)
Manimal (1983)
The Survivors (1983)
Jane Doe (1983)
Miss All-American Beauty (1982)
Sophisticated Ladies (1982)
The Rules of Marriage (1982)
Divorce Wars: A Love Story (1982)
The Ambush Murders (1982)
Prince of the City (1981)
The Promise of Love (1980)
The Children of An Lac (1980)
The Legend of Walks Far Woman (1980)
Brave New World (1980)
Act of Violence (1979)
Mind Over Murder (1979)
The Darker Side of Terror (1979)
A Fire in the Sky (1978)
Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery (1978)
Dr. Strange (1978)
The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978)
Deathmoon (1978)
Night Cries (1978)
The Dark Secret of Harvest Home (1978)
Four Journeys Into Mystic Time: Mysterium (1978)
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977)
Sweet Revenge (1976)
The Keegans (1976)
Farewell to Manzanar (1976)
Death Race 2000 (1975)
Ratings
Information
Known ForSound
GenderMale
Birthday1938-07-09 (85 years old)
Birth PlaceSeattle, United States of America
CitizenshipsUnited States of America
AwardsArts and Letters Award in Music, Guggenheim Fellowship
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