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 at the Cafe La Boheme in West Hollywood. Following a speech by Academy Music Branch Governor Charles Bernstein, SCL president Ashley Irwin introduced the nominees who briefly spoke to the audience. Three of the four nominated composers in the score category were in attendance, including Alexandre Desplat, nominated for the seventh and eight time for his scores for Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel and Morten Tyldum’s The Imitation Game, who talked about his experience as one of the industry’s top composers over the last decade and finding his own musical voice, while keeping his integrity. Johann Johannsson, nominated for the first time for his music for Best Picture nominee The Theory of Everything, and Gary Yershon, also nominated for the first time for his score for Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner, thanked the SCL and Academy music branch for the warm welcome they received. Among the nominees for Best Original Song, Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois who are nominated for the song Lost Stars from Begin Again, talked about the honor of meeting their other fellow nominees and the camaraderie that developed between them. Common who hosted last year’s first Oscar concert and is nominated for the song Glory from Selma with John Legend, also was humbled about his first Oscar nomination and thanked the organization for their acceptance. Julian Raymond who co-wrote the song I’m Not Gonna Miss You from the documentary Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me was joined on the stage by Campbell’s wife Kim who talked about what the nomination means to her husband. Shawn Patterson, nominated for the song Everything is Awesome from The Lego Movie, reflected on his experience working on the hit song, calling it the highlight of his professional career and Diane Warren who received her seventh nomination for Grateful from Beyond the Lights also briefly addressed the industry crowd, which also included numerous composers such as John Ottman, Roque Banos, Mychael Danna, Joseph Trapanese, David Schwartz, Daniel Licht, Federico Jusid and Carlo Siliotto.
Back row (from left to right): Johann Johannsson, Julian Raymond, Gary Yershon, Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois, Common, Alexandre Desplat
Front row: Charles Bernstein, Kim Campbell, Shawn Patterson, Diane Warren
Photo credit: Kaya Savas/Film.Music.Media
