Oscars 2023: All you need to know about Best Original Score nominees
The 95th Academy Awards (Oscars 2023) is slated to be held on Sunday, March 12, 2023. The venue for the coveted ceremony will be the Los Angeles, California-based Dolby Theater. Popular talk show anchor Jimmy Kimmel will return as the host for the third time.
Viewers will be able to watch the program live on ABC and also stream it on other platforms online. The final vote for the Oscars 2023 ends on Tuesday, March 7, after which the main event will be held on Sunday.
A relatively less-talked-about category at the Academy Awards is the Best Music (Original Score) category. The nominees for the same are Volker Bertelmann, Justin Hurwitz, Carter Burwell, Son Lux, and John Williams for All Quiet on the Western Front, Babylon, The Banshees of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and The Fabelmans, respectively.
Two Best Music (Original Score) Oscars 2023 nominees have won several Academy Awards in the past
The list of the Oscars 2023 Music (Original Score) nominees includes a veteran composer, a band, and several individual music directors. Among them all, Williams and Hurwitz have already won Academy Awards in the past.
1) Volker Bertelmann (All Quiet on the Western Front)
Volker Bertelmann has been nominated for his work in the 2022 war drama All Quiet on the Western Front. The film was based in Germany in 1914 and starred Daniel Brühl, Felix Kammerer, and others in pivotal roles.
The nod at the Oscars 2023 marks the second one for Bertelmann. His earlier Best Original Score nomination was for Lion (2016). The noted German pianist and composer formed his first band at the age of 14 and got contracts to perform on TV and with other bands.
His first album was launched in 2004 and the second came a year later. Over the years, he has collaborated with several popular musicians, including Samuli Kosminen, Jeffrey Zeigler, Pekka Kusisto, and Calexico's Joey Burns and John Convertino, among others.
Bertelmann’s recent projects include The Old Guard, Summerland, Ammonite, and War Sailor.
2) Justin Hurwitz (Babylon)
Justin Hurwitz received his Oscars 2023 nomination for Babylon, a feature by his longtime friend and collaborator Damien Chazelle. The epic period black comedy-drama film starred Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, among others.
Babylon aside, Hurwitz has given the scores for all Chazelle's directorial projects including Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, Whiplash, La La Land, and First Man. La La Land happened to be a big win for both friends as Hurwitz grabbed two Oscars and Chazelle won the Best Director award.
Hurwitz also served as a writer for The League and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
3) Carter Burwell (The Banshees Of Inisherin)
The Oscars 2023 nomination is the third nod for Carter Burwell at the Academy Awards. This year, Burwell was nominated for The Banshees Of Inisherin, a 2022 black tragicomedy film that is set on a remote island off Ireland’s west coast.
His first Best Original Score nomination came for Carol (2015), while his second nod was for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017). Apart from the Coen Brothers, he has also worked for acclaimed directors like Todd Haynes, Spike Jonze, and Martin McDonagh.
4) Son Lux (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Experimental band Son Lux includes Ian Chang, Ryan Lott, and Rafiq Bhatia as its members. Their debut Oscars nomination came for the 2022 absurdist sci-fi actioner Everything Everywhere All at Once. The Michelle Yeoh-fronted movie deals with several concepts like nihilism, existentialism, absurdism, and Asian-American identity.
Son Lux has already released over four studio albums, two soundtrack albums, and almost 20 music videos. Lott is a founding member of the band and is also its producer, composer, keyboardist, and vocalist. Bhatia handles the guitar and is the composer/producer of the group. Lastly, Chang plays the drums and is a producer-composer of Son Lux.
5) John Williams (The Fabelmans)
John Williams, an iconic music composer, has received his Oscars 2023 nod for The Fabelmans, a film by Steven Spielberg. The semi-biopic stars Gabriel LaBelle, Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, and Seth Rogen, among others.
Williams and Spielberg have been working together since 1974. Films aside, the 91-year-old veteran has also given theme music for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games and the NBC Sunday Night Football broadcast, among others.
Williams has scored some of the most memorable and critically acclaimed tunes for films over the years. He has received 53 nominations for the same, earning him the feat of being the second most-nominated individual in the history of the Academy Awards.
Reports state that nine out of the top 25 highest-grossing films feature a score by him.
The Oscars 2023 will be broadcast live on ABC at 8 pm EDT on March 12, 2023. One can also stream the event live on platforms including ABC.com, the ABC app, Hulu, YouTubeTV, AT&T TV, and FuboTV. Meanwhile, the red carpet will air on E! from 5 pm EDT.