Over the last 30 years, four-time Oscar nominee Danny Elfman has established himself as one of the most versatile and accomplished film composers in the industry. He has collaborated with such directors as Tim Burton, David O. Russell, Gus Van Sant, Sam Raimi, Paul Haggis, Ang Lee, Rob Marshall, Guillermo del Toro, Brian De Palma, Tate Tayler, James Pondsoldt and Peter Jackson. Beginning with his first score on Tim Burton’s Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Elfman has scored a broad range of films, including: Milk (Oscar nominated), Good Will Hunting (Oscar nominated), Big Fish (Oscar nominated), Men in Black (Oscar nominated), Edward Scissorhands, Wanted, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Mission: Impossible, Planet of the Apes, A Simple Plan, To Die For, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Batman, Dolores Claiborne, Sommersby, Chicago, Fifty Shades of Grey, Dick Tracy, Silver Linings Playbook, The Nightmare Before Christmas, American Hustle, Alice in Wonderland, The Girl on the Train and Avengers: Age of Ultron.

A native of Los Angeles, Elfman grew up loving film music. He traveled the world as a young man, absorbing its musical diversity. He helped found the band Oingo Boingo, and came to the attention of a young Tim Burton, who asked him to write the score for Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. In addition to his film work, Elfman wrote the iconic theme music for The Simpsons and Desperate Housewives. He also composed a ballet, Rabbit and Rogue, choreographed by Twyla Tharp, a symphony Serenada Schizophrana for Carnegie Hall, an overture The Overeager Overture for the Hollywood Bowl, and Iris—a Cirque du Soleil show at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre. Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton had its concert premiere at London’s Royal Albert Hall and has subequently toured around the globe including a run at New York’s Lincoln Center which culminated in an Emmy Award-winning PBS special, Live from Lincoln Center: Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton. Elfman is currently working on a concerto for violinist Sandy Cameron which will premiere in Prague in 2017.

photo: Jimmy Ienner, Jr.