Lalo Schifrin

He was born on June 21, 1932 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Lalo was classically trained from an early age by his father, Luis Schifrin, concertmaster of the Orchestra of the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. While attending the Conservatory in Paris, Lalo led a double life: he would study classical music during the week and jam with Europe's hottest jazz players on the weekend.

When Schifrin returned to Buenos Aires in the mid 1950's, he formed his own big band. When the legendary trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie heard Lalo play, Dizzy brought Lalo to New York to be his pianist and arranger. As a jazz musician he has performed with such great personalities as Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz, and Count Basie.

A prolific composer, Schifrin has written more than 100 scores for film and television, garnering four Grammy awards out of 21 Grammy nominations, one ACE, and six Oscar nominations. Among Schifrin's well known scores are: Mission Impossible, Kung Fu, Earth Star Voyager, Planet of The Apes, Petrocelli, Medical Center, Cool Hand Luke, The Competition, Mannix, Dirty Harry, The Fox, Bullitt, FX 2, Rush Hour y Tango. As jazz musician has shared the stage with big personalities as Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz, and Count Basie.

Schifrin has performed in the world's greatest concert halls: Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Los Angeles Music Center, the Concertgebouw, Royal Festival Hall, Teatro Colon, Salle Pleyel, and the Champs Elysee Theater, as well as at all the major jazz festivals in the United States and Europe.

Schifrin made possible that The Three Tenors, Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti,   singing together thanks to arrange of the medleys. This highly successful series of recordings have enticed many new fans into the world of classical music.

Beginning in 1993, Schifrin has been featured as composer, pianist and conductor for his ongoing series of "Jazz Meets the Symphony" recordings. These works have featured the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and such jazz stars as Ray Brown, Grady Tate, Jon Faddis, Paquito D'Rivera, James Morrison, and Jeff Hamilton. The "Jazz Meets the Symphony Collection" contains the first four releases and has garnered three Grammy nominations. The fifth CD in this series will be recorded in the autumn of 2000.

Among the many honors awarded Schifrin: BMI Lifetime Achievement Award (1988); an award from the Israeli government for "Contributions to World Understanding through Music"; a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame from the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce; the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres from the French minister of Culture; the Distinguished Artist Award in 1998 from the Los Angeles Music Center; advisor to the President of Argentina in Cultural Affairs in 1998; and appointed Music Director of the Los Angeles Latin Jazz Institute/Festival in 1999.

His time continues to be divided amongst composing both jazz and classical commissions, performing on tour with orchestras and big bands, and working on film scores.