The Conductors
Marvin Hamlisch
Principal Pops Conductor
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Marvin Hamlisch’s life in music is notable for its great versatility as well as substance. As composer, Hamlisch has won virtually every major award: three Oscars, four Grammys, four Emmys, a Tony and three Golden Globes. For Broadway, he wrote the music for They’re Playing Our Song, as well as the groundbreaking A Chorus Line, which received the Pulitzer Prize.
He is the composer of many motion picture scores, including his Oscar-winning score and song for The Way We Were and his adaptation of Scott Joplin’s music for The Sting, for which he received a third Oscar. His prolific output of scores for films include original compositions and/or musical adaptations for Sophie’s Choice, Ordinary People, The Swimmer, Three Men and a Baby, Ice Castles, Take the Money and Run, Bananas, Save the Tiger and The Informant!, starring Matt Damon, and directed by Steven Soderbergh.
In addition to his post in Seattle, Hamlisch holds the title of Principal Pops Conductor for the Pittsburgh, Colorado, Milwaukee and Dallas symphony orchestras; the Pasadena Symphony and Pops; and the San Diego Symphony. He was Musical Director and arranger of Barbra Streisand’s 1994 concert tour of the U.S. and England, as well as of the television special, Barbra Streisand: The Concert, for which he received two Emmys.
Hamlisch is a graduate of The Juilliard School of Music and Queens College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. He believes in the power of music to bring people together. “Music can make a difference,” he says, “There is a global nature to music, which has the potential to bring all people together. Music is truly an international language, and I hope to contribute by widening communication as much as I can.”