Dustin O'Halloran
Dustin O'Halloran (born September 8, 1971)[2] is an Emmy Award-winning American composer and pianist. Aside from releasing music as a recording artist, O'Halloran is a prolific film and TV composer, as well as one half of ambient act A Winged Victory for the Sullen.
Dustin O'Halloran | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born | Phoenix, Arizona | September 8, 1971
Origin | Los Angeles, California |
Occupation(s) | Pianist, composer[1] |
Years active | 1994–present |
Labels | Deutsche Grammophon |
Associated acts | |
Website | dustinohalloran |
Early life
O'Halloran was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and spent most of his childhood in Hawaii and Los Angeles. While studying art at Santa Monica College, he met singer Sara Lov, with whom he founded indie rock band Dévics in 1998. When the group signed with Bella Union in 2001, they relocated to Romagna, Italy, where O'Halloran lived for seven years.
Career
Solo work
In 2004, O'Halloran released his first record as a solo artist, Piano Solos. He has since released three more solo records, the latest of which is Lumiere (2011), which featured contributions by Peter Broderick and Adam Wiltzie (Stars of the Lid), and was mixed by Jóhann Jóhannsson.[3]
In 2019, O'Halloran signed with Deutsche Grammophon and released his first EP on the label, entitled Sundoor.[4]
A Winged Victory For The Sullen
With A Winged Victory for the Sullen, his collaboration with Adam Wiltzie, O'Halloran has released three studio albums, A Winged Victory for the Sullen (2011), Atomos (2014) and The Undivided Five (2019). The second of which was also the original score for the identically titled dance piece by choreographer Wayne McGregor and his company Wayne McGregor Random Dance.[5][6]
In 2015, they were invited to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London as part of the BBC Proms.[7] The duo scored their first film together in 2016, entitled In the Shadow of Iris by French director Jalil Lespert.
In 2019, A Winged Victory for the Sullen signed with UK-based indie label Ninja Tune.
Film score works
Since the release of Piano Solos Volumes 1 and 2 in 2004 and 2006, O'Halloran has gone on to score a number of films and TV shows. These include Sofia Coppola's 2006 film Marie Antoinette, and Drake Doremus’ Like Crazy (2011), which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.
In 2014, O’Halloran worked on Indian drama Umrika, which won the Audience Award at Sundance, and gave him his first opportunity to compose for a full string orchestra.
In the same year he was also asked to provide the music for Transparent, the acclaimed TV series created by Jill Soloway for Amazon Studios.[8] O'Halloran was awarded the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music for his original theme for Transparent in 2015.[9]
In 2016, O’Halloran collaborated with Hauschka (Volker Bertelmann) on the score for the Oscar-nominated film Lion.[10] The score of the film was nominated for many major awards including the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Critics’ Choice Awards. He has since collaborated with Bertelmann on a number of other scores, including Ammonite (2020) starring Saoirse Ronan and Kate Winslet.
Discography
Solo albums
Year | Album | Label |
---|---|---|
2004 | Piano Solos | Splinter |
2006 | Piano Solos Vol. 2 | Filter/Splinter |
2010 | Vorleben | Sonic Pieces |
2011 | Lumiere | Fat Cat |
2017 | 3 Movements (EP) | 1631 Recordings |
2019 | Sundoor (EP) | Deutsche Grammophon |
Soundtrack albums
- Marie Antoinette (Verve Forecast/Polydor, 2006)
- An American Affair (Splinter, 2009)
- Now Is Good (Polydor, 2012)
- Like Crazy (Relativity Music, 2012)
- The Beauty Inside (Splinter, 2013)
- Breathe In (Milan Records, 2013)
- Umrika (Splinter, 2015)
- Iris (Erased Tapes, 2016) (as A Winged Victory For The Sullen)
- Lion (Sony Music, 2016) (with Hauschka)[11][12]
- Save Me (Sky, 2018)
- Puzzle (Sony Music, 2018)
- The Hate U Give (Milan Records, 2018) (with Volker Bertelmann)
- The Art of Racing in the Rain (Hollywood Records, 2019) (with Volker Bertelmann)
- Save Me Too (SATV/Save Me Too, 2020)
- A Christmas Carol (Hollywood Records, 2020) (with Volker Bertelmann)
- The Old Guard (Lakeshore Music, 2020) (with Volker Bertelmann)
With Devics
- If You Forget Me (Bella Union, 1998 — writer, co-producer)
- My Beautiful Sinking Ship (Bella Union, 2001 — writer, co-producer)
- The Stars at St. Andrea (Bella Union, 2003 — writer, producer)
- Push the Heart (Filter, 2006 — writer, producer)
With A Winged Victory for the Sullen
- A Winged Victory for the Sullen (Kranky, 2011 — Arranger, Composer, Engineer, Main Personnel, Score)
- Atomos (Kranky, 2014 — Arranger, Composer, Engineer, Primary Artist, Score)
- Iris (Erased Tapes, 2016)
- God's Own Country (2017)
- The Undivided Five (Ninja Tune, 2019)
Other collaborations
- With Katy Perry: 'Into Me You See' from Witness.
Filmography
Year | Title | Director | Credits | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | Marie Antoinette | Sofia Coppola | Composer | |
2007 | Remember the Daze | Jess Manafort | Composer | |
2008 | An American Affair | William Olsson | Composer | |
2010 | Want to See Something? | Tomas Jonsgården | Composer | Short |
2011 | Like Crazy | Drake Doremus | Composer | |
2012 | The Other Dream Team | Marius A. Markevicius | Composer | Documentary |
2012 | The Beauty Inside | Drake Doremus | Composer | TV Mini-Series |
2012 | Now Is Good | Ol Parker | Composer | |
2013 | Breathe In | Drake Doremus | Composer | |
2013 | Eclipse | Linda Arkelian, David Cooper | Composer | Short |
2014 | Posthumous | Lulu Wang | Composer | |
2014–2017 | Transparent | Jill Soloway (creator) | Composer | TV Series |
2015 | Deliá | Thomas Scott Stanton | Composer | Short |
2015 | Umrika | Prashant Nair | Composer | |
2015 | American Masters | Susan Lacy | Composer | TV Series documentary |
2015 | This Is Me | Rhys Ernst | Composer | TV Mini-Series documentary |
2015 | Equals | Drake Doremus | Composer | |
2016 | I Love Dick | Sarah Gubbins, Jill Soloway (creators) | Composer | TV Series |
2016 | Lion | Garth Davis | Composer | with Volker Bertelmann[13] |
2016 | Queimafobia | Daniel Sánchez Arévalo | Composer | Short |
2016 | In the Shadow of Iris | Jalil Lespert | Composer | |
2017 | God's Own Country | Francis Lee | Composer | |
2018 | The Current War | Alfonso Gomez-Rejon | Composer | With Hauschka |
2018 | Save Me | Nick Murphy | Composer | with Bryan Senti |
2018 | Puzzle | Marc Turtletaub | Composer | |
2018 | The Hate U Give | George Tillman Jr. | Composer | |
2019 | The Art of Racing in the Rain | Simon Curtis | Composer | with Volker Bertelmann |
2019 | A Christmas Carol | Nick Murphy | Composer | with Volker Bertelmann |
2020 | For Life | Hank Steinberg | Composer | TV Series |
2020 | Save Me Too | Nick Murphy | Composer | with Bryan Senti |
2020 | The Old Guard | Gina Prince-Bythewood | Composer | with Volker Bertelmann |
2020 | Ammonite | Francis Lee | Composer | with Volker Bertelmann |
Awards
Year | Award | Nomination | Movie | Result | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | HMMA Award | Main Title - TV Show / Digital Series | Transparent | Nominated | ||
2015 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Main Title Theme Music | Transparent | Won[14] | ||
2016 | Critics’ Choice Awards | Best Score | Lion (2016) | Nominated | Shared with: Volker Bertelmann | |
2016 | PFCS Award | Best Original Score | Lion (2016) | Nominated | Shared with: Volker Bertelmann | |
2016 | HMMA Award | Best Original Score - Feature Film | Lion (2016) | Nominated | Shared with: Volker Bertelmann | |
2017 | GFCA Award | Best Original Score | Lion (2016) | Nominated | Shared with: Volker Bertelmann | |
2017 | BAFTA Film Award | Original Music | Lion (2016) | Nominated | Shared with: Volker Bertelmann | |
2017 | Oscar | Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score) | Lion (2016) | Nominated | Shared with: Volker Bertelmann[15][16] | |
2017 | Golden Globe | Best Original Score | Lion (2016) | Nominated | Shared with: Volker Bertelmann |
Personal life
Dustin O'Halloran divides his time between Reykjavík and Los Angeles.
References
- "Transparent Composer Dustin O'Halloran on the Show's Piano-Driven Score and Why the Theme Song Changed Slightly This Season". vulture.com. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
- "Dustin O'Halloran - New Songs, Playlists & Latest News - BBC Music". BBC. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
- "Dustin O'Halloran | Biography & History | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
- "Dustin O'Halloran – Sundoor". www.deutschegrammophon.com. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
- "A Conversation With Dustin O'Halloran". BMI.com. August 13, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
- "Subscribe | theaustralian". www.theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
- "Prom 27: Late Night With … BBC Radio 6 Music". BBC Music Events. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
- "The story behind 'Transparent's Emmy-nominated theme song". EW.com. July 16, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
- "Composer Dustin O'Halloran Talks Transparent and Working With Jill Soloway". pastemagazine.com. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
- Vinyl, Music On. "OUT NOW: LION ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK - Music On Vinyl". www.musiconvinyl.com. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
- Furman, Brian (February 26, 2017). "2017 Academy Awards Preview: Best Original Score". Heavy.com. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
- Ehrlich, David. "How Hauschka And Dustin O'Halloran Helped Lion Find Its Way Home | IndieWire". www.indiewire.com. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
- Lowder, J. Bryan (February 9, 2017). "La La Land May Be a Shoo-in for Best Original Score, but Here's Who Really Deserves the Oscar". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
- Variety Staff (July 16, 2015). "Emmy Award Nominations: Full List of 2015 Emmy Nominees". Variety. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
- Merry, Stephanie; Merry, Stephanie (January 24, 2017). "Oscar nominations 2017: Complete list of nominees; 'La La Land's' 14 ties record". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
- "Film composers talk Oscars in KUSC conversations". Retrieved August 13, 2017.