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Dustin O'Halloran

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Dustin O'Halloran
Background information
Born (1971-09-08) September 8, 1971 (age 53)
Phoenix, Arizona
OriginLos Angeles, California
Occupation(s)Pianist, composer[1]
Years active1994–present
LabelsDeutsche Grammophon
Websitedustinohalloran.com Edit this at Wikidata

Dustin O'Halloran (born September 8, 1971)[2] is an American composer and pianist. Aside from releasing music as a recording artist, O'Halloran is a film and TV composer, as well as one half of ambient act A Winged Victory for the Sullen.

Early life

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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

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Solo work

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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

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With A Winged Victory for the Sullen, his collaboration with Adam Wiltzie, O'Halloran has released four studio albums: A Winged Victory for the Sullen (2011), Atomos (2014), The Undivided Five (2019), and Invisible Cities (2021). The second 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, AWVFTS 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 addition to their studio outputs, they wrote the soundtrack for the 2016 film Iris.

In 2019, A Winged Victory for the Sullen signed with UK-based indie label Ninja Tune.

Film score works

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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 DoremusLike 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.[citation needed]

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, he 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).[citation needed]

Discography

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Solo albums

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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
2021 Silfur Deutsche Grammophon
2024 1 0 0 1 Deutsche Grammophon

Soundtrack albums

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  • 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

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  • 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)

Other collaborations

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Filmography

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Year Title Director Credits Notes
2006 Marie Antoinette Sofia Coppola Composer
2007 Remember the Daze Jess Manafort
2008 An American Affair William Olsson
2010 Want to See Something? Tomas Jonsgården Short
2011 Like Crazy Drake Doremus
2012 The Other Dream Team Marius A. Markevicius Documentary
2012 The Beauty Inside Drake Doremus TV Mini-Series
2012 Now Is Good Ol Parker
2013 Breathe In Drake Doremus
2013 Eclipse Linda Arkelian, David Cooper Short
2014 Posthumous Lulu Wang
2014–2017 Transparent Jill Soloway (creator) TV series
2015 Deliá Thomas Scott Stanton Short
2015 Umrika Prashant Nair
2015 American Masters Susan Lacy TV series documentary
2015 This Is Me Rhys Ernst TV mini-series documentary
2015 Equals Drake Doremus
2016 I Love Dick Sarah Gubbins, Jill Soloway (creators) TV series
2016 Lion Garth Davis with Volker Bertelmann[13]
2016 Queimafobia Daniel Sánchez Arévalo Short
2016 In the Shadow of Iris Jalil Lespert
2017 God's Own Country Francis Lee
2018 The Current War Alfonso Gomez-Rejon With Hauschka
2018 Save Me Nick Murphy with Bryan Senti
2018 Puzzle Marc Turtletaub
2018 The Hate U Give George Tillman Jr.
2019 The Art of Racing in the Rain Simon Curtis with Volker Bertelmann
2019 A Christmas Carol Nick Murphy
2020 For Life Hank Steinberg TV series
2020 Save Me Too Nick Murphy with Bryan Senti
2020 The Old Guard Gina Prince-Bythewood with Volker Bertelmann
2020 Ammonite Francis Lee
2022 The Essex Serpent Clio Barnard with Herdís Stefánsdóttir

Awards

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Year Award Nomination Title Result Notes
2014 HMMA Award Main Title - TV Show / Digital Series Transparent Nominated
2015 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Main Title Theme Music Won[14]
2016 Critics’ Choice Awards Best Score Lion (2016) Nominated Shared with: Volker Bertelmann
PFCS Award Best Original Score
HMMA Award Best Original Score - Feature Film
2017 GFCA Award Best Original Score
BAFTA Film Award Original Music
Academy Award Best Original Score Shared with: Volker Bertelmann[15][16]
Golden Globe Best Original Score Shared with: Volker Bertelmann

Personal life

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Dustin O'Halloran divides his time between Reykjavík and Los Angeles.

References

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  1. ^ "Transparent Composer Dustin O'Halloran on the Show's Piano-Driven Score and Why the Theme Song Changed Slightly This Season". vulture.com. September 30, 2016. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  2. ^ "Dustin O'Halloran - New Songs, Playlists & Latest News - BBC Music". BBC. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  3. ^ "Dustin O'Halloran | Biography & History | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  4. ^ "Dustin O'Halloran – Sundoor". www.deutschegrammophon.com. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  5. ^ "A Conversation With Dustin O'Halloran". BMI.com. August 13, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  6. ^ "Subscribe | theaustralian". www.theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  7. ^ "Prom 27: Late Night With … BBC Radio 6 Music". BBC Music Events. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  8. ^ "The story behind 'Transparent's Emmy-nominated theme song". EW.com. July 16, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  9. ^ "Composer Dustin O'Halloran Talks Transparent and Working With Jill Soloway". pastemagazine.com. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  10. ^ Vinyl, Music On. "OUT NOW: LION ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK - Music On Vinyl". www.musiconvinyl.com. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  11. ^ Furman, Brian (February 26, 2017). "2017 Academy Awards Preview: Best Original Score". Heavy.com. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  12. ^ Ehrlich, David (November 30, 2016). "How Hauschka And Dustin O'Halloran Helped Lion Find Its Way Home | IndieWire". www.indiewire.com. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ Variety Staff (July 16, 2015). "Emmy Award Nominations: Full List of 2015 Emmy Nominees". Variety. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ "Film composers talk Oscars in KUSC conversations". Retrieved August 13, 2017.
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