Charles Bernstein (composer)
Encyclopedia
Charles Bernstein is a composer of film and television music. His credits include the score for A Nightmare on Elm Street
.
After studying composition with Vitorio Giannini and Vincent Persichetti
at the Juilliard School
in New York City
, Bernstein attended UCLA
, where he received an Outstanding Graduate of the College Award, a Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship, and a Chancellor's Doctoral Teaching Fellowship while working with American composer Roy Harris
. He currently sits on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
, the Board of Directors of the Society of Composers and Lyricists, the Board of Directors of the ASCAP Foundation, and serves as Vice-President of the Academy of Motion Pictures Foundation. He has taught on the graduate film scoring faculty at the University of Southern California
Thornton School of Music
, and has presented film scoring seminars over the past 15 years at UCLA Extension. He has received an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for his writings on music and is author of the book Film Music and Everything Else.
Bernstein has composed scores for more than 100 motion pictures, including White Lightning
, A Nightmare on Elm Street
, Mr. Majestyk
, The Entity
, Cujo
, Love At First Bite
, and Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision
. Several of his tracks have appeared in Quentin Tarantino
's Kill Bill
and Inglourious Basterds. His television credits include Malice in Wonderland, The Long Island Incident
, and Sybil
.
A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American slasher film directed and written by Wes Craven, and the first film of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The film features Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia, Robert Englund, and Johnny Depp in his feature film...
.
After studying composition with Vitorio Giannini and Vincent Persichetti
Vincent Persichetti
Vincent Ludwig Persichetti was an American composer, teacher, and pianist. An important musical educator and writer, Persichetti was a native of Philadelphia...
at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Bernstein attended UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
, where he received an Outstanding Graduate of the College Award, a Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship, and a Chancellor's Doctoral Teaching Fellowship while working with American composer Roy Harris
Roy Harris
Roy Ellsworth Harris , was an American composer. He wrote much music on American subjects, becoming best known for his Symphony No...
. He currently sits on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
, the Board of Directors of the Society of Composers and Lyricists, the Board of Directors of the ASCAP Foundation, and serves as Vice-President of the Academy of Motion Pictures Foundation. He has taught on the graduate film scoring faculty at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
Thornton School of Music
USC Thornton School of Music
The University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, founded in 1884 and dedicated in 1999, is one of the premier music schools in the United States...
, and has presented film scoring seminars over the past 15 years at UCLA Extension. He has received an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for his writings on music and is author of the book Film Music and Everything Else.
Bernstein has composed scores for more than 100 motion pictures, including White Lightning
White Lightning (1973 film)
White Lightning is a 1973 American action film from United Artists starring Burt Reynolds as Gator McKlusky. The film, directed by Joseph Sargent and written by William W. Norton, also starred Jennifer Billingsley, Ned Beatty, Bo Hopkins, R.G. Armstrong, and Diane Ladd...
, A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American slasher film directed and written by Wes Craven, and the first film of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The film features Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia, Robert Englund, and Johnny Depp in his feature film...
, Mr. Majestyk
Mr. Majestyk
Mr. Majestyk is a 1974 American action film directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Charles Bronson. The film is based on a novel written by Elmore Leonard.-Plot:...
, The Entity
The Entity
The Entity is a horror film purportedly based on the paranormal events a woman and her family experienced circa 1976. It stars Barbara Hershey as a woman tormented by an unseen entity...
, Cujo
Cujo (film)
Cujo is a 1983 American horror/thriller film based on the Stephen King novel of the same name. Cujo was directed by Lewis Teague from a screenplay by Lauren Currier. The film was #58 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.-Plot:...
, Love At First Bite
Love At First Bite
Love at First Bite is a 1979 comedy horror film directed by Stan Dragoti and written by Robert Kaufman, using characters originally created by Bram Stoker. It stars George Hamilton, Susan Saint James, Richard Benjamin and Arte Johnson. The original music score was composed by Charles Bernstein...
, and Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision
Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision
Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision is a 1994 documentary film made by Freida Lee Mock about the life of American artist Maya Lin, whose best-known work is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C....
. Several of his tracks have appeared in Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
's Kill Bill
Kill Bill
Kill Bill Volume 1 is a 2003 action thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It is the first of two volumes that were theatrically released several months apart, the second volume being Kill Bill Volume 2....
and Inglourious Basterds. His television credits include Malice in Wonderland, The Long Island Incident
The Long Island Incident
The Long Island Incident is a 1998 American television movie produced by Barbra Streisand's Barwood Films. The teleplay by Maria Nation is based on a real-life incident....
, and Sybil
Sybil (2007 film)
Sybil is a 2007 American docudrama directed by Joseph Sargent. The teleplay by John Pielmeier is based on the 1973 book of the same name by Flora Rheta Schreiber, which fictionalized the story of Shirley Ardell Mason, who was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder...
.
Additional credits
- MASS: Voices of the World
- CBS Schoolbreak SpecialCBS Schoolbreak SpecialCBS Schoolbreak Special is an American anthology series for teenagers that aired on CBS from April 1980 to January 1996. The series originally premiered under the title CBS Afternoon Playhouse, and was later changed during the 1984 - 85 season...
: Little Miss Perfect - Deadly FriendDeadly FriendDeadly Friend is a 1986 science fiction horror film directed by Wes Craven. It is based on the novel entitled Friend by Diana Henstell, which was adapted for the screen by Bruce Joel Rubin.-Plot:...
- Excessive ForceExcessive ForceExcessive Force is a musical side project started in 1991 by Sascha Konietzko of KMFDM and Buzz McCoy of My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult.-History:...
- Enslavement: The True Story of Fanny KembleFanny KembleFrances Anne Kemble , was a famous British actress and author in the early and mid nineteenth century.-Youth and acting career:...
- The Sea Wolf
- Out of the AshesOut of the AshesOut of the Ashes is a made-for-television movie that was released by Showtime. It is a dramatization of the life of Holocaust concentration camp survivor Gisella Perl and is based on her book I Was a Doctor in Auschwitz.- Cast :...
- Profoundly Normal
- Sweet KillSweet KillSweet Kill is a 1973 B-movie written and directed by future Academy Award winner Curtis Hanson. The film was Hanson's directorial debut and was produced by Roger Corman...
- Crossing the Line
- After InnocenceAfter InnocenceAfter Innocence is a 2005 United States documentary film about men who were exonerated from death row by DNA evidence. Directed by Jessica Sanders, the film took the Special Jury Prize at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival....
- Love, Lies and MurderLove, Lies and MurderLove, Lies, and Murder is a 1991 miniseries starring Clancy Brown, Sheryl Lee, Moira Kelly, Tom Bower, John Ashton, and Cynthia Nixon. It is based on the 1985 murder of Linda Bailey Brown. The names were not changed for the film. The miniseries is four hours long and aired on NBC in two parts, the...
- RefusenikRefusenik (2008 film)Refusenik is a 2008 documentary film by Laura Bialis that chronicles the struggle of Jews to emigrate from the Soviet Union in the 1960’s and 70’s...
- Sweet Nothings in My Ear
- Foolin' AroundFoolin' AroundFoolin' Around is a 1980 film directed by Richard T. Heffron and starring Gary Busey and Annette O'Toole. The film was shot on location in Minnesota.-Plot:...
- Drug Wars: The Camarena StoryDrug Wars: The Camarena StoryDrug Wars: The Camarena Story is a 1990 TV mini-series based on Elaine Shannon’s book Desperados and the Time magazine article of the same name. It was directed by Brian Gibson and starred Steven Bauer, Miguel Ferrer, Benicio del Toro, Treat Williams and Craig T. Nelson...
- Czechoslovakia 1968Czechoslovakia 1968Czechoslovakia 1968 is a 1969 short documentary film about the "Prague Spring", the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia. The film was produced by the United States Information Agency under the direction of Robert M...
- Inglourious Basterds