James Newton Howard & Pino Donaggio @ 12th World Soundtrack Awards & Concert

The World Soundtrack Awards was established by the Ghent Film Festival's World Soundtrack Academy in 2001. The World Soundtrack Awards has emerged in the last decade as a top honour for film composers. Known as the world's premiere festival for celebrating and honouring film music, the Ghent Film Festival is celebrating its 39th year and runs October 9 - 20. Howard most recently scored the blockbuster film The Hunger Games. His credits include King Kong, The Sixth Sense, The Fugitive and Pretty Woman, among many others. James Newton Howard has received eight Oscar® nominations, including six for "Best Original Score" for his work in Defiance ('08), Michael Clayton ('07), The Village ('04), My Best Friend's Wedding ('97), The Fugitive ('93) and The Prince of Tides ('91). Moreover, he was nominated twice for "Best Original Song" for his work for the films One Fine Day ('96) and Junior ('94). In 2009, Howard won a Grammy Award along with Hans Zimmer for their score for The Dark Knight. In 2008 he was crowned "Film Composer of the Year" at the World Soundtrack Awards for his score for Charlie Wilson's War, Michael Clayton and I Am Legend. Howard boasts a portfolio with over 100 film scores, including seven films by director M. Night Shyamalan (The Last Airbender, The Happening, Lady in the Water, The Village, Signs, Unbreakable and The Sixth Sense), six films directed by Lawrence Kasdan (Darling Companion, Dreamcatcher, Mumford, French Kiss, Wyatt Earp and Grand Canyon), seven films starring Julia Roberts (Larry Crowne, Duplicity, Charlie Wilson's War, America's Sweethearts, Runaway Bride, My Best Friend's Wedding and Pretty Woman) and three animated films for >Walt Disney Studios (Treasure Planet, Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Dinosaur). Howard's work also includes Green Lantern, Water for Elephants, Gnomeo & Juliet, Salt, King Kong, Batman Begins, Vertical Limit, Snow Falling on Cedars, A Perfect Murder, The Devil's Advocate, Waterworld, Outbreak, and the upcoming Snow White and the Huntsman and The Bourne Legacy. Donaggio is a frequent collaborator of director Brian De Palma and has scored the filmmaker's Carrie, Home Movies, Dressed To Kill, Blow Out, Body Double and Raising Cain. Donaggio will also be scoring De Palma's upcoming feature Passion. His other credits include Don't Look Now directed by Nicolas Roeg, Trauma directed by Dario Argento and The Howling directed by Joe Dante. The Italian composer gained early recognition in Italy for his work as a singer and songwriter. The Ghent Film Festival and its long-lasting partner, the Brussels Philharmonic, have expressed their passion for music organising prestigious film music concerts over the years in collaboration with the in-house composer and Music Director Dirk Brossé. This collaboration has put top-notch composers including Ennio Morricone, Elmer Bernstein, John Williams, Howard Shore, Angelo Badalamenti, John Barry and Hans Zimmer in the spotlight. This collaboration grew into an international success and even resulted in Howard Shore turning to the Brussels Philharmonic for the recording of the score for Martin Scorsese's The Aviator, which was awarded a Golden Globe. The Oscar-winning recording of the soundtrack of The Artist is another major highlight. In addition to this, the Ghent Film Festival and the Brussels Philharmonic have recorded five CDs. The "For The Record" series is a collection of the most beautiful film music by composers Craig Armstrong (Romeo + Juliet, Love Actually), Mychael Danna (Little Miss Sunshine, Capote), Angelo Badalamenti (Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet), Shigeru Umebayashi (2046, House of Flying Daggers) and Gabriel Yared (The Talented Mr. Ripley, The English Patient). In October 2011 a collectors' box was launched, which is available at www.filmfestival.be and in Fnac stores. 12th World Soundtrack Awards & Concert Saturday 20 October at 8 p.m. at 't Kuipke in Ghent Performance by the Brussels Philharmonic conducted by Dirk Brossé accompanied by film scenes projected onto a big screen Tickets for the World Soundtrack Awards & concert cost €29, €39 or €49 and are on sale via this link.