John Swihart is a musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

, best known for composing music for movies, most notably the Napoleon Dynamite

Napoleon Dynamite original soundtrack

The Napoleon Dynamite original soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 2004 comedy film Napoleon Dynamite. It features the original score, dialogue, and other artists' songs. It was released on October 5, 2004, by Lakeshore Records....

 movie. This 2004 soundtrack album was the first CD release of his music.

From an early age Swihart learned a number of instruments, including the piano, saxophone and later guitar. He eventually became interested in original compositions. Swihart attended the Berklee College of Music

Berklee College of Music

Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...

 in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

.

His first brush with cinema came when a group of students from Emerson College asked his help with their film project. Later he was chosen to be a performer with Blue Man Group

Blue Man Group

Blue Man Group is an organization founded by Chris Wink, Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton. The organization produces theatrical shows and concerts featuring popular music, comedy and multimedia; recorded music and scores for film and television; television appearances for shows such as The Tonight...

, which caused him to move from Boston to Las Vegas

Las Vegas metropolitan area

The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...

. Later Swihart's wife obtained a job in Los Angeles and Swihart moved there with her. In LA he started doing music for independent films. One of these was the movie Napoleon Dynamite.

The Napoleon Dynamite film was a hit surprise hit and Swihart was awarded a Golden Satellite Award for best original score. After this his work on music scores for film and television increased dramatically.

List of films with scores composed by Swihart

• The Brothers Solomon
  The Brothers Solomon
  The Brothers Solomon is a comedy film released on September 7, 2007, starring Will Arnett and Will Forte.-Plot:John and Dean are two sheltered happy-go-lucky brothers who want nothing more than to please their ailing father . Deciding a grandson will do the trick, the clueless boys set out to...
  
   (Revolution)

• The Hammer (Bentley Film Group)

• The Education of Charlie Banks

• Employee of the Month
  Employee of the Month (2006 film)
  Employee of the Month is a 2006 American comedy film directed by Greg Coolidge, written by Don Calame, Chris Conroy, and Coolidge, and starring Dane Cook, Jessica Simpson and Dax Shepard. The main plot revolves around two shop employees who compete for the affection of their newest co-worker...
  
   (Lion's Gate)

• Full of It (New Line Cinema)

• Out There (Picture Farm)

• Sasquatch Dumpling Gang

• Daltry Calhoun (Miramax)

• The Great New Wonderful (Serenade Films)

• Napoleon Dynamite (Fox Searchlight / MTV Films)

• One Last Dance (Mediacorp Riantree Pictures)

• Our Very Own (Miramax)

• Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas
  Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas
  Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas is a 2006 film directed by Scott Lew, starring Patrick Fugit and Olivia Wilde.-Plot:Bickford Shmeckler is a lonely college student who keeps a journal of his philosophical ideas and theories. One night, during a party, his book is stolen by an inebriated Sarah Witt ...
  
   (Fox Searchlight / MTV Films)

• Mall Cop

• Life on the Ledge

• Up 2 Down

• Garden Party (Lookout Films)

• South of Pico (Snails Pace Productions)

• Randy and the Mob (Capricorn Pictures)

• One Part Sugar (Dewey Beach Films)

• Splinterheads
  Splinterheads
  Splinterheads is a 2009 romantic comedy film written and directed by Brant Sersen. It stars Thomas Middleditch, Rachael Taylor, Christopher McDonald and Lea Thompson. The film opened in limited release in the United States on November 6, 2009....
  
   (Paladin)

• Youth in Revolt (Dimension Films)

List of Television programs or episodes with scores composed by Swihart

• How I met Your Mother (CBS)

• Trick My Truck (CMT)

• Hope & Faith - Main Title (ABC)

• Nadine in Dateland

• Home Blitz (CMT)

• The Drive (CMT)

• MTV Undressed (MTV Films)

• MTV Real World (MTV Films)

• Greek (ABC)

Awards and nominations

• Golden Satellite Award
  Satellite Award for Best Original Score
  The Satellite Award for Best Score is an annual award given by the International Press Academy.- 1990s :- 2000s :...
  
   (2004) for best original score (Napoleon Dynamite)

• Grammy Nomination (2006) for best compilation soundtrack album for motion picture, television or other visual media (Napoleon Dynamite)