Yesterday afternoon, the Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL) hosted its annual reception honoring the Academy Award-nominated composers and songwriters in the Best Original Score and Best Original Song category in Beverly Hills. SCL president Ashley Irwin introduced the nominees who briefly spoke to the audience. All six nominated composers in the score category were in attendance, including Alexandre Desplat, nominated for the sixth time for his score for Stephen Frears’ Philomena, who talked about the first Oscar concert this past week and thanked Academy governors Charles Fox and Arthur Hamilton for putting together the event. William Butler and Owen Pallett, nominated for the first time for their music from Her, were joined at the reception by Arcade Fire members Win Butler and Régine Chassagne and the film’s director Spike Jonze.Thomas Newman, nominated for the 12th time for Saving Mr. Banks, jokingly said that you will be able to find him “at the bar drowned in burboun” after the winners are announced tonight. Steven Price, nominated for the first time for his score for Gravity, who was introduced to the Los Angeles film music community with an SCL screening of the Oscar frontrunner and Q&A last fall, thanked the organization for their warm welcome. John Williams, nominated for 49th time for The Book Thief, also made an appearance. Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez who are nominated for the song Let It Go from Frozen, which is on the verge of becoming Disney’s highest grossing animated film of all time, also briefly addressed the industry crowd, which included numerous composers, studio music department heads, agents and performing rights organization representatives. Also in attendance were actress Ellen Page, film critic Leonard Maltin, composer and SCL board member Charles Bernstein, as well as Mary Poppins songwriter and Saving Mr. Banks music consultant Richard Sherman.
Back row (from left to right): Charles Fox, Ashley Irwin, William Butler, Steven Price, Owen Pallett
Middle row: Charles Bernstein, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, Arthur Hamilton
Front row: John Williams, Alexandre Desplat, Thomas Newman
Photo credit: Dan Goldwasser/Soundtrack.Net
