KUSC Interviews

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker brought John Williams his 52nd Oscar nomination, now only 7 short of the all-time record held by Walt Disney. In addition to its symphonic manipulation of the nearly 30 existing Star Wars Theme, the score also incorporates several…

Not for the first time in his career, Randy Newman was honored with a pair of Oscar nominations: his 21st for Marriage Story–his first film score written for a chamber orchestra–and his 22nd for the song “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away” from…

Alexandre Desplat’s 11th Oscar nomination came for his score for the latest screen version of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, for which the French composer not only had to capture the spirit of the period, but also worked with director Greta Gerwig almost exclusively…

Thomas Newman earned his 15th Oscar nomination for his score for 1917, his seventh collaboration with director Sam Mendes. It was not only the director’s most personal film–dedicated to the memory of his grandfather, a Great War veteran–but also presented some unique challenges for…

Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers believes in respecting the old and welcoming the new. In this recent conversation with Jim Svejda, they discuss several of her recent commissions.

Superstar pianist Yuja Wang stopped by KUSC to chat with Jim Svejda about the rewards and challenges of her repertoire and how the shallow can become sublime.

Marc Shaiman joins Jim Svejda to discuss his score for Mary Poppins Returns.

Oscar-nominated composer Ludwig Goransson talks to Jim Svejda about traveling to Africa to research the score for Black Panther.

Nicholas Britell earned an Academy Award nomination for the music of Moonlight. He teamed up with Moonlight director Barry Jenkins again for If Beale Street Could Talk and, again, earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Score. Here Britell talks to Jim Svejda about…

Terence Blanchard is up for an Oscar for his BlacKkKlansman score. He stopped by The Evening Program to talk about the stranger-than-fiction story, why he was scared to write the score for Malcolm X and how he’s learned to read Spike Lee’s mind.