James Lavino
Encyclopedia
James Lavino is an American composer
, known especially for his choral music and his music for film and television.
in New York City, where he was a composition student of Behzad Ranjbaran
. He later studied in London
with Paul Patterson
of the Royal Academy of Music
.
Lavino's choral and concert music, some of which is published by Boosey & Hawkes
, has been performed in England, Spain, France, Belgium, Romania, and locations across the USA. In 2009, his choral piece "They have become bright stars", a commission for the choir of St Paul's Cathedral
(UK), was premiered in the presence of Charles, Prince of Wales
; Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall; and Prince Andrew, Duke of York
. Lavino's piece "Nativity," commissioned by Choir & Organ magazine, was featured in the 2007 Classic FM Christmas Concert, and has been recorded by the choir of Westminster Abbey
(James O'Donnell, cond.) for the Hyperion
label. His recent setting of three poems by W.H. Auden, for Exmoor Singers of London, was premiered at London's Southbank Centre. Lavino's choral piece "An Exhortation of St Peter" was performed as part of the 2007 Tallis Festival
and was broadcast on BBC Radio 3
.
Lavino composed the music for Rebecca Cammisa's Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning HBO documentary film Which Way Home
(from the Oscar-nominated producers of Juno
) and for Henry Singer's acclaimed BBC
film Last Orders. He also scored Alex Karpovsky's Woodpecker
and Sam Neave's Cry Funny Happy, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival
. The soundtrack to Woodpecker was performed by Lavino, Radiohead
's Colin Greenwood
, and Lee Sargent
& Tyler Sargent
, from the band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
. Lavino also scored Matthew Galkin
's award-winning HBO documentary I am an animal: the story of Ingrid Newkirk and PETA and an eight-part documentary series for BBC television, called Sissinghurst.
Lavino wrote songs for the groundbreaking Disney animated show The Book of Pooh
and has also created music and sound effects for several advertising agencies and stage productions.
Lavino has been active as a choral singer since his childhood, when he was a treble in the choir of men and boys of St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia
. Most recently, as a member of the BBC Symphony Chorus
, he has performed at the Royal Albert Hall, the Barbican Centre and many other venues, and has appeared on recordings on the Naxos and Chandos labels.
Lavino holds a Master’s degree in English from Yale University
and was an Associate Editor of the esteemed literary magazine The Paris Review.
From 2002-2010, Lavino lived in London, England.
In September 2010 he moved back to the USA.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, known especially for his choral music and his music for film and television.
Life and career
Lavino was born in Philadelphia in 1973 and studied music at The Juilliard SchoolJuilliard 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, where he was a composition student of Behzad Ranjbaran
Behzad Ranjbaran
Behzad Ranjbaran is a leading Persian composer.Ranjbaran was born and raised in Iran. He entered the Tehran Conservatory at the age of 9. Ranjbaran continued his study of composition at Indiana University...
. He later studied in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with Paul Patterson
Paul Patterson
Paul Patterson is a British composer and Manson Professor of Composition at the Royal Academy of Music.Patterson studied trombone and composition at the Royal Academy of Music. He returned there to become Head of Composition and Contemporary Music until 1997, when he became Manson Professor of...
of the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
.
Lavino's choral and concert music, some of which is published by Boosey & Hawkes
Boosey & Hawkes
Boosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and wind musical instruments....
, has been performed in England, Spain, France, Belgium, Romania, and locations across the USA. In 2009, his choral piece "They have become bright stars", a commission for the choir of St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
(UK), was premiered in the presence of Charles, Prince of Wales
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
; Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall; and Prince Andrew, Duke of York
Prince Andrew, Duke of York
Prince Andrew, Duke of York KG GCVO , is the second son, and third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
. Lavino's piece "Nativity," commissioned by Choir & Organ magazine, was featured in the 2007 Classic FM Christmas Concert, and has been recorded by the choir of Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
(James O'Donnell, cond.) for the Hyperion
Hyperion Records
Hyperion Records is an independent British classical record label.-History:The company was named after Hyperion, one of the Titans of Greek mythology. It was founded by George Edward Perry, widely known as "Ted", in 1980. Early LP releases included rarely recorded 20th century British music by...
label. His recent setting of three poems by W.H. Auden, for Exmoor Singers of London, was premiered at London's Southbank Centre. Lavino's choral piece "An Exhortation of St Peter" was performed as part of the 2007 Tallis Festival
Tallis Festival
The Tallis Festival , hosted by Exmoor Singers of London, forms the Tallis Festival Choir for just one weekend every 12 to 18 months. The Festival always includes Thomas Tallis' Spem in Alium for 40-part choir, but in addition has commissioned new 40-part works by modern composers, as companion...
and was broadcast on BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
.
Lavino composed the music for Rebecca Cammisa's Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning HBO documentary film Which Way Home
Which Way Home
Which Way Home is a 2009 documentary film directed by Rebecca Cammisa. The film follows several children who are attempting to get from Mexico to the United States. Cammisa received a Fulbright Scholar Grant to make the documentary in 2006. The film premiered on HBO on August 24, 2009.-External...
(from the Oscar-nominated producers of Juno
Juno (film)
Juno is a 2007 comedy-drama film directed by Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody. Ellen Page stars as the title character, an independent-minded teenager confronting an unplanned pregnancy and the subsequent events that put pressures of adult life onto her. Michael Cera, Olivia Thirlby, J. K....
) and for Henry Singer's acclaimed BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
film Last Orders. He also scored Alex Karpovsky's Woodpecker
Woodpecker (film)
Woodpecker is a 2008 comedic film starring Jon e. Hyrns and directed by Alex Karpovsky. The film follows Hyrns and his cohort, Wesley Yang, as they obsessively search the Arkansas bayou for proof that Ivory-billed Woodpecker is in fact not extinct....
and Sam Neave's Cry Funny Happy, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
. The soundtrack to Woodpecker was performed by Lavino, Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
's Colin Greenwood
Colin Greenwood
Colin Charles Greenwood , is an English musician and composer, best known as the bassist of the rock band Radiohead. Apart from bass, Colin plays keyboards, synthesizers and works on sampling on the electronic side of Radiohead...
, and Lee Sargent
Lee Sargent
Lee Sargent is a keyboardist/guitarist/backup vocalist for the indie rock band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.He attended college at Connecticut College along with the other members of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and prior to the group's formation he produced the Canine Tricycle Bereavement record Backseat...
& Tyler Sargent
Tyler Sargent
Tyler Sargent is the bassist and backing vocalist for the indie rock band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.He attended college at Connecticut College along with the other members of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah prior to the group's formation. He attended high school at Milton Academy...
, from the band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is an American indie rock group based in Brooklyn, New York and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Their debut album, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, was self-released in 2005.-History:...
. Lavino also scored Matthew Galkin
Matthew Galkin
Matthew Galkin is an American film director and producer, best known for his work in documentaries.Galkin directed the 2010 HBO documentary Kevorkian, about the controversial right-to-die advocate Jack Kevorkian and his ill-fated 2008 run for Congress...
's award-winning HBO documentary I am an animal: the story of Ingrid Newkirk and PETA and an eight-part documentary series for BBC television, called Sissinghurst.
Lavino wrote songs for the groundbreaking Disney animated show The Book of Pooh
The Book of Pooh
The Book of Pooh is an American television series that aired on the Disney Channel. It is the third television series to feature the characters from the Disney franchise based on A. A...
and has also created music and sound effects for several advertising agencies and stage productions.
Lavino has been active as a choral singer since his childhood, when he was a treble in the choir of men and boys of St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia
St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia
St. Peter's Church is a historic church located on the corner of Third and Pine Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It opened for worship on September 4, 1761 and served as a place of worship for many of the United States Founding Fathers during the period of the Continental Congresses. The...
. Most recently, as a member of the BBC Symphony Chorus
BBC Symphony Chorus
The BBC Symphony Chorus is a British amateur chorus based in London. It is the dedicated chorus for the BBC Symphony Orchestra, though it performs with other national and international orchestras....
, he has performed at the Royal Albert Hall, the Barbican Centre and many other venues, and has appeared on recordings on the Naxos and Chandos labels.
Lavino holds a Master’s degree in English from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and was an Associate Editor of the esteemed literary magazine The Paris Review.
From 2002-2010, Lavino lived in London, England.
In September 2010 he moved back to the USA.
Filmography
- 2003: Cry Funny Happy
- 2005: The Hole Story
- 2007: I am an animal: the story of Ingrid Newkirk and PETAI Am An AnimalI Am an Animal: The Story of Ingrid Newkirk and PETA is a November 2007 HBO documentary about Ingrid Newkirk, co-founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals , and her struggle for animal rights. It was directed by Matthew Galkin...
- 2008: Creative Nature
- 2008: First Person Singular
- 2008: WoodpeckerWoodpecker (film)Woodpecker is a 2008 comedic film starring Jon e. Hyrns and directed by Alex Karpovsky. The film follows Hyrns and his cohort, Wesley Yang, as they obsessively search the Arkansas bayou for proof that Ivory-billed Woodpecker is in fact not extinct....
- 2008: Last Orders
- 2009: Sissinghurst
- 2009: Which Way HomeWhich Way HomeWhich Way Home is a 2009 documentary film directed by Rebecca Cammisa. The film follows several children who are attempting to get from Mexico to the United States. Cammisa received a Fulbright Scholar Grant to make the documentary in 2006. The film premiered on HBO on August 24, 2009.-External...
- 2009: Kevorkian
- 2009: Trust us, this is all made up
- 2010: No one dies in Lily Dale
- 2010: The Road to Carnegie Hall
- 2011: Tent City: USA
- 2011: Burning Blue
- 2012: Refuge
Choral/Vocal Works
- 2000: I will lift up mine eyes
- 2001: The Star in the East
- 2002: Save Me, O God
- 2002: The Valley of Unrest
- 2002: withdrawal
- 2003: Peaceful was the night
- 2004: An Exhortation of St Peter
- 2004: Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis
- 2005: Turn, Beloved
- 2006: The Eyes of the Lord
- 2006: Do not go gentle into that good night
- 2007: Holy Thursday
- 2007: Their Lonely Betters
- 2007: Nativity
- 2008: Three Auden Settings
- 2009: They have become bright stars
- 2009: We meet not in sorrow
- 2009: Before the paling of the stars
- 2010: VISITATIONS