Los Angeles, CA, January 2004 – Composer Howard Shore, who won the Academy Award in 2001 for his score for the first installment of “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” can add a number of nominations to his list of honors. Shore recently received a Grammy nomination for “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” and two Golden Globe nominations for “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” for the Best Original Score and Best Original Song “Into The West,” performed by Annie Lennox and co-wrote with Fran Walsh and Annie Lennox. He also received a Broadcast Film Critics Award nomination for Best Original Score and is a front-runner in this year’s Oscar race for the three hours plus of new music he created for the final film in Peter Jackson’s epic trilogy. The score for “The Return of the King” has been awarded Best Score by the Online Film Critics Society and the Las Vegas Film Critics Society.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” soundtrack spotlights guest appearances by acclaimed soprano Renée Fleming and renowned Irish flautist Sir James Galway. To date, the three “The Lord of the Rings” soundtrack albums have sold over 3 million copies worldwide and the first two albums have remained on the Billboard Top 100 Soundtracks chart since their original release in 2001 and 2002, respectively.
Shore has created a concert version “The Lord of the Rings Symphony: Six Movements for Orchestra and Chorus.” He debuted the symphony at the premiere in New Zealand in November, and is currently scheduled to conduct the work throughout the United States, Europe, Australia and Canada in concert dates this year.
New Line Cinema’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” currently in theatres, concludes the compelling journeys at the heart of J.R.R. Tolkien’s revered trilogy. Produced, co-written and directed by Peter Jackson, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” is produced by Barrie M. Osborne, Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson. The screenplay is by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Jackson based on the book by J.R.R. Tolkien. Cast members include (in alphabetical order) Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Brad Dourif, Bernard Hill, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, John Noble, Miranda Otto, John Rhys-Davies, Andy Serkis, Liv Tyler, Karl Urban, Hugo Weaving, David Wenham, and Elijah Wood.