Tim Minchin (born 1975) is an Australian comedian, actor, composer, songwriter, pianist, musical director and a self proclaimed rock 'n' roll megastar. He was born in Northampton, England, and grew up in Perth, Western Australia. He attended UWA (University of Western Australia) before launching onto the world stage at the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe Festival by winning the Best Newcomer Perrier Comedy Award.
There are at least two artists with this name. 1) A Canadian multi-talented musician / producer (born Jason Charles Beck, aka Chilly Gonzales), known for his MC & electro albums (i.e. "The Entertainist" & "Presidential Suite".), plus his comical live shows. He is able to play the piano, guitar, bass, drums & various brass instruments. In the 1990s, he was the leader of the alternative rock band Son before embarking on his solo career. Early in his solo career, he toured with Peaches (Merill Nisker) and the press nicknamed them the "Bonnie and Clyde of prankster rap.
A composer and performer of meditative solo piano music and reflective, inspiring songs. Influences on the piano music include the minimalism of Steve Reich and the rich harmony and melody of Eric Satie, with hints of post-rock and downtempo electronica. The piano album Valentine Court was released in 2006. An album of songs, Mindfulmess, is released in UK and Australia in 2012, blending songwriting influences such as Brian Wilson and Paul Simon with lyrics influenced by a Buddhist spiritual journey.
Hiromi Uehara (上原ひろみ, born 26 March 1979) is a Japanese jazz composer and pianist. She is known for her virtuosic technique, energetic live performances and blend of jazz with other musical genres such as progressive rock, classical and fusion in her compositions. She performs as a trio alongside bassist Tony Grey and drummer Martin Valihora. On October 19, 2006, the trio added guitarist David Fiuczynski (from the Screaming Headless Torsos), to form Hiromi's Sonicbloom.
Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (sometimes transliterated Ashkenazi) (Russian: Влади́мир Дави́дович А́шкенази) (born July 6, 1937) is a Russian conductor and, more notably, a pianist. He was born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Ashkenazy began his studies at the age of 6 and showing prodigious talent, was accepted at the Central Music School at 8. A graduate of the Moscow Conservatory, he won second prize in the prestigious International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1955 and shared first prize in the 1962 International Tchaikovsky Competition with English pianist John Ogdon.
Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman (born November 28, 1943) is a singer/songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is notable for his mordant (and often satirical) pop songs and for his many film scores.
Newman is noted for his practice of writing lyrics from the perspective of a character far removed from Newman's own biography. For example, the 1972 song "Sail Away" is written as a slave trader's sales pitch to attract slaves, while the narrator of "Political Science" is a U.S. nationalist who complains of worldwide ingratitude toward America and proposes a brutally ironic final solution. One of his biggest hits, "Short People" was written from the perspective of "a lunatic" who hates short people. Since the 1980s, Newman has worked mostly as a film composer. His film scores include Ragtime, Awakenings, The Natural, Leatherheads, James and the Giant Peach, Meet the Parents, Seabiscuit and The Princess and the Frog. He has scored six Disney-Pixar films: Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Cars and most recently Toy Story 3.
He has been awarded an Academy Award, three Emmys, four Grammy Awards, and the Governor's Award from the Recording Academy. Newman was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2007, Newman was inducted as a Disney Legend.
Newman grew up in a musical family with Hollywood connections; his uncles Alfred and Lionel both scored numerous films. By age 17, Randy was staff writer for a California music publisher. One semester short of a B.A. in music from UCLA, he dropped out of school. Lenny Waronker, son of Liberty Records’ president, was a close friend and, later, as a staff producer for Warner Bros., helped get Newman signed to the label.
Newman’s early songs were recorded by a number of performers. His friend Harry Nilsson recorded an entire album with Newman on piano, Nilsson Sings Newman, in 1970. Judy Collins (“I Think It’s Going to Rain Todayâ€), Peggy Lee (“Love Storyâ€), and Three Dog Night - for whom “Mama Told Me (Not to Come)†hit #1 - all enjoyed success with Newman’s music.
Newman became a popular campus attraction when touring with Nilsson. His status as a cult star was affirmed by his critically praised debut, Randy Newman, in 1968, which featured his own complex arrangements for full orchestra, and later by 1970’s 12 Songs. He also sang “Gone Dead Train†on the soundtrack of Performance (1970). Live and Sail Away were Newman’s first commercial successes, but his audience has been limited to some degree because his songs are often colored by his ironic, pointed sense of humor, which is rarely simple and frequently misunderstood.
Good Old Boys, for example, was a concept album about the South, with the lyrics expressing the viewpoint of white Southerners. Lyrics such as “We’re rednecks, and we don’t know our ass from a hole in the ground†made people wonder whether Newman was being satirical or sympathetic. He toured (to Atlanta and elsewhere) behind the album with a full orchestra that played his arrangements and was conducted by his uncle Emil Newman.
Little Criminals, in 1977, contained Newman’s first hit single, “Short People,†which mocked bigotry and was taken seriously by a vocal offended minority. “Baltimore†from that album was covered by Nina Simone. Following that album’s release, Newman toured for the first time since 1974. He claimed that in the interim he’d done nothing but watch television and play with his three sons. In 1979 his Born Again featured guest vocals by members of the Eagles. In 1981 Newman composed the soundtrack for the film Ragtime (the first of many soundtrack assignments) and was nominated for two Oscars (Best Song, Best Score). His 1983 album, Trouble in Paradise, included guest appearances by Linda Ronstadt, members of Fleetwood Mac, and Paul Simon, who sang a verse of “The Blues.†That album’s “I Love L.A.†became something of an anthem, thanks in part to a flashy music video directed by Newman’s cousin, Tim Newman (who went on to shoot popular videos for ZZ Top, among others). Land of Dreams (#80, 1988) spawned a minor hit in “It’s Money That Matters†(#60, 1988). It would take Newman 10 more years to make another studio album, 1999’s critically acclaimed Bad Love. With that record peaking at #194, he continues to meet his biggest success in Hollywood, where he spent most of the ’90s becoming one of the town’s most sought-after film composers. Although the material on his own records is literate and biting, the songs he writes for movies are decidedly simpler and with a sunnier outlook - and they usually meet with more success. Both “I Love to See You Smile†from Parenthood and “When She Loved Me†from Toy Story 2, for instance, were nominated for Oscars; in 1998 alone, Newman garnered three Oscar nominations for three different movies.
In 1995 Newman wrote a musical adaptation of Goethe’s Faust. Both the play and the accompanying CD (which featured guests such as Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, Elton John, Don Henley, and James Taylor in the role of God) were commercially unsuccessful. In 2000 he received the Billboard Century Award. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Angela Hewitt (born July 26, 1958) is a Canadian classical pianist. She also holds British nationality through her father, Godfrey, who was the cathedral organist in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Angela Hewitt began her piano studies at age 3, performed in public at 4, and won her first music scholarship at 5. Aside from the piano, she also studied violin, recorder, and ballet (at Mme. Toumine's school in Ottawa). Her first recital was in the Royal Conservatory in Toronto at the age of 9. She studied at the Toronto Conservatory from 1964 to 1973.
Stephen Kovacevich has had a long and distinguished career as a concert pianist and is particularly renowned for his interpretations of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms. A native of Los Angeles, his international reputation has been built both on his concert appearances and the highly acclaimed recordings he has made throughout his career. Mr. Kovacevich's recent and upcoming engagements in North America include appearances with the Chicago, Pittsburgh, Montreal, Houston, Detroit and Indianapolis symphonies; the Los Angeles Philharmonic and St.
Franz Liszt (1811, Doborján, Hungary - 1886, Bayreuth, Germany)(Hungarian: Ferencz Liszt, in modern usage Ferenc Liszt, from 1859 to 1865 officially Franz Ritter von Liszt) (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher. He was also the father-in-law of Richard Wagner. Liszt became renowned throughout Europe for his great skill as a performer during the 1800s.
Bernd Glemser (born 1962, Dürbheim) is a German pianist. A student of Vitaly Margulis, in 1989 he became Germany's youngest piano professor at Saarbrücken's Musikochschule. He has recorded major pieces by Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Schumann, Scriabin, and Tchaikovsky. In 2003 Glemser was decorated with the Bundesverdienstkreuz. His recording of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 was featured in Spider-Man 3 (2007).