Michael Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, song writer, and session musician. April 15 is the 105th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (106th in leap years). ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... November 18 is the 322nd day of the year (323rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar with 43 days remaining. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed. ... A film score is the background music in a film, generally specially written for the film and often used to heighten emotions provoked by the imagery on the screen or by the dialogue. ...

Kamen was born in New York City, USA and studied at the High School of Music & Art in New York (now Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts), then at Juilliard's School for Music Dance and Drama in New York, where he learned to play the oboe. Flag Seal Nickname: Big Apple Location Location in the state of New York Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,214. ... Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts The Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts is located near the Juilliard School in the Lincoln Center district of Manhattan, on Amsterdam Avenue between 65th Street and 64th Street. ... The Juilliard School is a performing arts conservatory in New York City, informally but definitively identified as simply Juilliard, and most famous for its musically-trained alumni. ... Modern Oboe The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. ...

He founded the New York Rock & Roll Ensemble in the late 1960s, which played classical-rock music presaging bands such as Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). Kamen played oboe and keyboards as well as composing. One of his songs Sing Lady Sing, was renamed Them Changes and parlayed into a hit by Buddy Miles. The New York Rock & Roll Ensemble was a rock band of the late 60s and early 70s described as playing classical baroque rock. // History/Biography The band was formed by three Julliard students (Michael Kamen, Marty Fulterman ---now known as Mark Snow--- and Dorian Rudnytsky). ... Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), from Birmingham, England, was a successful rock music group of the 1970s and 1980s. ... Biography Best known as the drummer in Jimi Hendrixs Band of Gypsys, Buddy Miles also had a lengthy solo career that drew from rock, blues, soul, and funk in varying combinations. ...

He worked briefly with Leonard Bernstein, when his rock ensemble appeared at one of Bernstein's concerts for young people. Leonard Bernstein in 1971 Leonard Bernstein (August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American composer, pianist and conductor. ...

His successes include his work with Pink Floyd, David Gilmour, Roger Waters (he is one of the few people to have been invited to work with both former Pink Floyd members, after their acrimonious split), Eric Clapton, Queen, Aerosmith, David Bowie, Eurythmics, Queensrÿche, Rush, Metallica, Herbie Hancock, The Cranberries, Bryan Adams, Sting and Kate Bush. Pink Floyd are a British progressive rock band noted for philosophical lyrics, classical rock compositions, sonic experimentation, innovative cover art, and elaborate live shows. ... David Jon Gilmour, CBE (born March 6, 1946 in Cambridge, England) is a British guitarist and vocalist with rock band Pink Floyd. ... George Roger Waters (born September 6, 1943) is a British rock musician, songwriter, and composer. ... Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE (born March 30, 1945), nicknamed Slowhand, is a Grammy Award winning English guitarist, singer and composer, who is one of the most respected and influential musicians of the rock-era, garnering an unprecedented three inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ... Look up queen in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Aerosmith is a prominent American rock band, often regarded as Americas Greatest Rock Band. Although they are known as a Boston, Massachusetts band, none of the members are actually from the city. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Duo David Stewart and Annie Lennox in a promotional shot for their 1999 album, Peace. ... Queensrÿche (pronounced (kwÄ“nz-rÄ«k) is a progressive metal band formed in 1981 in Bellevue, Washington, near Seattle. ... Rush is a Canadian progressive rock band comprising bassist, keyboardist and vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart (IPA: ). Rush formed in the summer of 1968, in Willowdale, Ontario (now part of Toronto) by Lifeson, Lee, and John Rutsey. ... Metallica is an American heavy metal band. ... Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is a jazz pianist and composer from Chicago, Illinois, USA. Hancock is one of jazz musics most important and influential pianists and composers. ... The Cranberries are an Irish alternative rock band that rose to mainstream popularity in the 1990s. ... Bryan Adams, OC, OBC b. ... Sting in Budapest, 2000 Gordon Matthew Sumner, CBE (born October 2, 1951), usually known by his stage name Sting, is an English musician from Newcastle upon Tyne. ... Kate Bush (born Catherine Bush on 30 July 1958 in Bexleyheath, Kent, now part of Greater London) is an English singer-songwriter with an expressive four-octave voice. ...

In 1989 Kamen joined many other guests for Roger Waters' massive performance of The Wall in Berlin. 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Wall is a 1979 rock opera and iconic concept album by Pink Floyd. ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ...

Kamen wrote eleven ballets, a saxophone concerto, and provided scores for the films Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Highlander, X-Men, Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves, Licence to Kill, the Lethal Weapon & Die Hard series, Mr. Holland's Opus, Splitting Heirs, and many others. To this day the overture from Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves is used by Morgan Creek Productions as their identifying theme. He also composed scores for both the From the Earth to the Moon and Band of Brothers series on HBO. He was nominated for two Academy Awards and won three Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, two Ivor Novello Awards, an Annie and an Emmy. In television, his best known work was on the 1985 BBC Television serial Edge of Darkness, on which he collaborated with Eric Clapton to write the score. The pair were awarded with a British Academy Television Award for Best Original Television Music for their work. Kamen also worked with heavy metal giants Metallica, on a two day concert that was held in Berkeley, California, with the San Francisco Symphony. This S&M collaboration was a breakthrough for both music and the fans; the album went on to go multi-platinium in 2001. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is a 1988 film directed by Terry Gilliam, starring John Neville (as the Baron), Sarah Polley, Eric Idle, Jonathan Pryce, Oliver Reed, Uma Thurman, Robin Williams and a great many more. ... Highlander may refer to the following: Persons: A person from the Scottish Highlands A person from the Highlands in Southern Poland: Gorals A person from the central plateaux of Madagascar Film and TV: Highlander (film): Highlander I, II, III & IV: fantasy movies. ... X-Men is an action movie, first released in Australia on 13 July 2000. ... Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was a 1991 film directed by Kevin Reynolds. ... Licence to Kill (released in the United States as License to Kill, but sold in the U.S. home video market with the British spelling) is the sixteenth film in the James Bond film series made by EON Productions. ... Lethal Weapon is the first of a series of American movies that were released in 1987, 1989, 1992, and 1998, all starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as a mismatched pair of Los Angeles police officers. ... The phrase die hard was first used during the Peninsular war to describe the Middlesex regiment. ... Mr. ... Splitting Heirs is a 1993 British film starring Eric Idle, Rick Moranis, Barbara Hershey, Catherine Zeta-Jones, John Cleese and Sadie Frost. ... Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was a 1991 film directed by Kevin Reynolds. ... Morgan Creek Productions, founded in 1988 by its Chairman, CEO and Producer/Presenter, James G. Robinson, is a film studio most notable for such blockbuster hits as Young Guns and In a varied 17-year history that has seen the Santa Monica, California-based company shift domestic distribution bases from... Band of Brothers is an acclaimed ten-part television miniseries about World War II, co-produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. ... HBO (Home Box Office) is a premium cable television network with headquarters in New York City. ... Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent film awards in the United States and most watched awards ceremony in the world. ... Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (originally called the Gramophone Awards), presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music... The Golden Globe Awards are American awards for motion pictures and television programs, given out each year during a formal dinner. ... The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards awarded for songwriting and composing. ... An Emmy Award. ... This article is about the year. ... BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which began in 1936. ... Bob Peck as Yorkshire police officer Ronald Craven, investigating what appears to be the accidental killing of his daughter. ... Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE (born March 30, 1945), nicknamed Slowhand, is a Grammy Award winning English guitarist, singer and composer, who is one of the most respected and influential musicians of the rock-era, garnering an unprecedented three inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ... The British Academy Television Awards, also known as the BAFTAs or, to differentiate them from the BAFTA Film Awards, the BAFTA Television Awards, are the most prestigious awards given in the British television industry, analogous to the Emmy Awards in the United States. ... Metallica is an American heavy metal band. ... Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in northern California, in the United States. ... Logo. ... S&M is Metallicas ninth album, recorded live with the San Francisco Symphony on April 21 and 22, 1999. ...

His involvement with Mr. Holland's Opus, a film about a frustrated composer who finds fulfillment as a high school music teacher, led Kamen to create The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation in 1996. The foundation supports music education through the donation of new and refurbished musical instruments to underserved school and community music programs and individual students in the United States. In 2005 the foundation created an emergency fund for schools and students affected by Hurricane Katrina. Mr. ... Lowest pressure 902 mbar (hPa) Damages $75 billion (2005 USD) (costliest Atlantic hurricane in history) Fatalities ≥1,836 total Areas affected Bahamas, South Florida, Cuba, Louisiana (especially Greater New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, Florida Panhandle, most of eastern North America Part of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season Hurricane Katrina was the...

Kamen was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1997, although he died from a heart attack. His last recorded work appeared on Bryan Adams's album Room Service where he played the oboe and wrote the orchestration to 'I Was Only Dreamin', and finally Kate Bush's album Aerial in November 2005. A myocardial infarction occurs when an atherosclerotic plaque slowly builds up in the inner lining of a coronary artery and then suddenly ruptures, totally occluding the artery and preventing blood flow downstream. ... Bryan Adams, OC, OBC b. ... Room Service is an album by Roxette, released in 2001. ... Kate Bush (born Catherine Bush on 30 July 1958 in Bexleyheath, Kent, now part of Greater London) is an English singer-songwriter with an expressive four-octave voice. ... Kate Bushs eighth studio album, Aerial, is a two-disc set released on November 7, 2005. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Michael Kamen is survived by his wife, Sandra Keenan-Kamen, and by his daughters, Sasha and Zoe.

External links

• Official site
• Michael Kamen at the Internet Movie Database
• Film Composer Tributes - Michael Kamen
• Official site of Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation founded by Michael Kamen
• Photo