Schifrin Honored in Los Angeles

Lalo Schifrin is a chameleon. Equally adept at classical composition as he is playing with jazz legends and scoring popular movie soundtracks, he proves adaptable in nearly any musical situation. His four Grammy awards, 20 Grammy nominations, one ACE and six Oscar nominations validate his colorful range.

Now Schifrin can add BMI’s Special Composer’s award to his collection. Schifrin received the prestigious award for his large body of work in a ceremony held May 16 at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles. In 35 years, Schifrin has written more than 100 scores for film and television including the scores to Mission Impossible, Dirty Harry, Cool Hand Luke, The Cincinnati Kid and The Fox.

As a jazz musician, Schifrin, a pianist, has performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz and Count Basie. His contributions to classical music include writing three Grand Finale concerts for the World Soccer Championships, sung by the Three Tenors. Since 1993, Schifrin has worked as composer, pianist and conductor for his ongoing series of Jazz Meets the Symphony recordings. His next release, Intersections, Jazz Meets the Symphony No. 5, is due out in August.

In the picture, Schifrin accepts the award from BMI’s Doreen Ringer-Ross.

Originally Published June 11, 2001