Biography
Paul Seiko Chihara (born July 9, 1938) is an American composer. Born in Seattle, Washington, Chihara is a Japanese American who spent three years of his childhood in the Minidoka internment camp in Idaho due to Executive Order 9066.
He earned a BA and an MA in English literature from the University of Washington and Cornell University, respectively. In 1965, he completed a DMA at Cornell, studying under Robert Palmer. Additionally, he studied composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris, Ernst Pepping in West Berlin, and Gunther Schuller at Tanglewood.
Chihara was the first composer-in-residence for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Neville Marriner. Most recently, he served on the music faculty at UCLA, heading the Visual Media Program. As of 2015, he joined New York University as an Artist Faculty member in Film Music.
His involvement with music for dramatic media extends to film and television, where he has composed nearly 100 scores. His first film score was for Roger Corman's Death Race 2000 (1975), a project that marked his transition from academia to a full-time composing career. This shift also influenced his concert music, leading him away from 12-tone and freely chromatic styles toward a more tonal approach.
Chihara has collaborated with directors such as Sidney Lumet, Louis Malle, Michael Ritchie, and Arthur Penn. His filmography includes Sweet Revenge (1976), I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977), The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978), A Fire in the Sky (1978), Prince of the City (1981), The Legend of Walks Far Woman (1982), The Survivors (1983), Crackers (1984), Impulse (1984), The Morning After (1986), Forever, Lulu (1987), The Killing Time (1987), Crossing Delancey (1988), and Penn & Teller Get Killed (1989). His television work features The Dark Secret of Harvest Home, Dr. Strange, Brave New World, Noble House, Frederick Forsyth Presents (1989), and the pilot and theme for Manimal, among others.
He also composed the score for Shōgun: The Musical, adapted from James Clavell's novel. The production had a brief Broadway run from November 1990 to January 1991.
Chihara's distinguished students include James Horner, Sean Friar, Joseph Trapanese, and Cynthia Tse Kimberlin.
