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Mark McKenzie
Composer Tributes




        Many years an orchestrator for some of the most popular composers from around the globe, Mark McKenzie is quickly becoming a widely popular composer himself. When his themes from Frank and Jesse were heard in the 1996 Olympics, followed by consecutive uses of Dr Jekyll and Ms Hyde at the 1997 and 1998 Academy Awards, the demand for more information about McKenzie's career quickly followed. No stranger to the film music community, his orchestration talents have added depth to such scores as Dances With Wolves, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and Sleepless in Seattle, as well as numerous scores by Bruce Broughton and Danny Elfman, including 1999's Sleepy Hollow.

        Between 1999 and 2000, McKenzie's scores for Durango and Dragonheart II: A New Beginning have been met with endless critical acclaim. As heard in both those scores and those that came before, his talent for creating strong and memorable melodies is paramount. With scores that often feature thematically enjoyable suites, McKenzie's scores function well outside their films. Combined with his talents in melody and orchestration is his ambition to try something new in every new project he tackles. The result is almost always a lush, orchestrally vibrant composition on screen and album. A member of Hollywood's younger generation of rising artists, McKenzie's future promises to provide many splendors on screens big and small, as well as concert halls, for years to come.



"My desire to compose strong melodies is one of the driving forces in my composition process. Melody is probably the part of film music that I am most attracted to. Music that is melodically strong often grabs my emotions in the most wonderful way."

        -- Mark McKenzie, 1999



Special audio clips for the February, 2000, Theme of the Month:

1. Dragonheart II: A New Beginning -- Delayed to this summer (on the Varèse Sarabande label), the production schedule for this film has been pushed back once again. But surely to the delight of many fans, McKenzie picks right up where Randy Edelman left off. McKenzie interpolates Edelman's theme into several of his cues, with some of the best of these referencing the "To the Stars" theme from the original. On top of this, McKenzie adds his own new thematic material to the score, complete with an original song w/ female vocal. And instead of relying on electronics, as Edelman did, McKenzie utilizes an orchestra for the entire score, stirring up quite a level of impressive, enjoyable, and fun ruckus during action sequences. His music has a much more authentic Medieval feel to it, even though bits and pieces of Edelman influence can be heard --especially at the end, which has an electronic choral element in addition to the orchestra. The following clip is an early, 1999 mix of the grand opening titles: dragonheart2.ra 157K/(0:30)


2. My Family/Mi Familia -- When Mark McKenzie spoke of his score for My Family in 1997, he stated, "I wanted a score that had a Spanish flavor but at the same time universal... I wanted to write music that has an ethnic flavor but that is not so ethnic that somehow it is a turnoff to the rest of the world." In the following audio clip from that score, you can hear the Spanish influence on the film's main title. A suite of music from My Family is available on McKenzie's promotional compilation release of 1996: mckenzie.ra 167K/(0:31)

3. Warlock: The Armageddon -- Only the second feature film score of his career, Mark McKenzie takes aim at another obscure horror film. Already well known as an orchestrator, McKenzie was still testing the waters with his compositions and, needless to say, his talents were already clearly evident early on. His score for Warlock: The Armageddon exceeds anything you would expect from a second-time composer for a low rate horror film. Performed by an orchestra and choir of reasonable size, with occasionally questionable sound quality, it is McKenzie's melodic mastery that makes this score and album shine, ranking among the best of his career: warlock4.ra 143K/(0:27)



Mark McKenzie's Credits:
Mark McKenzie
Information about McKenzie's background:

Mark McKenzie was born in Lake City, Minnesota, and as his parents loved music they made sure that each of their seven children studied piano and practiced at least an hour a day. As he entered high school he became engrossed in classical music, particularly J.S. Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin. He also became very interested in the music of rock bands like Yes, Deep Purple, Emerson Lake & Palmer and others spending every free minute listening to music, playing the piano, organ, French horn, recorder, and to some degree the guitar. Attending the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire/Wisconsin, he studied music composition as well as English literature. After earning his Bachelors degree in music composition he moved to L.A. in 1979 and finished both his Masters and his Doctorate in music composition at the University of Southern California. During those years he was especially enanored with the music of Bartok, Stravinsky, Webern, and Vaughn Williams. In addition to his music studies, McKenzie also read as much as he could, getting a doctoral emphasis in American literature.

McKenzie finished his formal composition studies in 1984 and was awarded the distinction "Outstanding Doctoral Graduate of the Year" by the USC faculty. After being invited by the music faculty to stay on, Mark McKenzie taught part-time courses in 20th century compositional techniques, music theory, counterpoint, orchestration and aural skills while at the same time beginning a career in film music. After meeting Bruce Broughton at USC and orchestrating his music, McKenzie soon orchestrated for composers such as Danny Elfman, Alan Silvestri, Cliff Eidelman, Marc Shaiman, John Barry, Basil Poledouris, James Newton Howard and Randy Edelman. Since beginning his own scoring career in 1991, McKenzie has received a number of composition awards in the concert music arena, including the Hans J. Salter Award for his Chamber Symphony I, the Grand Prize in the International Horn Society's Composition contest for his horn octet Zao, and an honorable mention in the Fargo Symphony Contest for his symphony Threnody for the Innocent Infants. His children's symphonic work "The Lion and the Mouse" has received performances with orchestras across both the US and Europe.



Also See:




  2007
  • The Last Sin Eater ***
  • Saving Sarah Cain

2006

  • The Ultimate Gift
  • In from the Night (TV)

2005

  • Silver Bells (TV)

2004

  • Stitch's Great Escape

2003

  • Enterprise (TV)

2002

2001

  • (none)

2000

1999

1998

  • (none)

1997

1996

1995

1994

1993

1992

  • (none)

1991

  • Son of Darkness: To Die For II




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Page created 1/28/00, updated 4/16/03. Version 3.3 (Filmtracks Publishing). Copyright © 2000-2003, Christian Clemmensen. All rights reserved. The reviews, pictures, and notes contained in the filmtracks.com composer tributes may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Filmtracks Publications.