Michael Giacchino knows what kind of movies he liked as a child and the composer prefers to work with directors that make the same kind of magical movies that he once watched.

Giacchino didn’t always know that he wanted to compose music, but he knew from a young age that he wanted to be associated with moviemaking in some way. “I had been making movies since I was nine,” he said. “I had tons of stop motion films. That’s how I spent my childhood. Making movies, super 8 movies, everything. I knew I always wanted to make movies in some capacity and be a part of what I loved.”

(more…)

Although doing the score for Star Trek XI was initially a “nightmare” for Michael Giacchino, he would not be averse to returning for Star Trek 2.

High expectations for the J.J. Abrams sequel were anxiety-provoking for Giacchino. “Doing that score was a huge nightmare for me,” he said. “I was so excited up to the point where I actually had to sit there and do it. Then I was like, ‘Oh, my god. What do I do?’”
(more…)

According to Star Trek XI composer Michael Giacchino, composing the music for a movie is more than just writing music.

Giacchino, who won an Oscar for his work on Up, knows that telling a story is part of the process of composing for movies such as Star Trek XI and television shows such as Lost. “As a film composer, your job is not to write music,” he said. “Your job is to tell a story.”

(more…)

Star Trek XI is one of three movies up for the Soundtrack of the Year award for the 2010 Classical BRIT Awards.

The Classical BRIT Awards exist to honor the best in the world of classical music and Britain’s place at its creative heart.

(more…)

Michael Giacchino (Star Trek XI) will compose the music for John Carter of Mars, the new Andrew Stanton (Wall-E, Finding Nemo) film based on the novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Fresh off his Oscar win for Pixar’s Up, Giacchino will score John Carter of Mars, which takes place on the “Red Planet” where Civil War veteran John Carter, imprisoned by twelve-foot tall green creatures, escapes and encounters the Princess of Helium.

John Carter of Mars, featuring Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights) as John Carter, is due out in 2012.

For the first time ever, Star Trek has won an Academy Award.

In one of four categories for which it was nominated, Star Trek XI won an Academy Award.

(more…)

Michael Giacchino had a productive 2009 and is reaping the rewards of having composed music for Star Trek XI, UP and Lost, while looking ahead to future projects.

Giacchino has already won two Grammys, as well as a Golden Globe for his work in Up. He has been nominated for an Oscar as well for Music Original Score for his work in the animated Pixar film, going up against another composer known for his work on Star Trek, James Horner.

(more…)

Composer Michael Giacchino, nominated for seven International Film Music Critics Association Awards, walks away with multiple awards for his work on Star Trek XI and Up.

The IFMCA announced a list of winners of its 2009 awards, and Giacchino won four of the seven awards for which he was nominated.

(more…)

Composer Michael Giacchino, nominated for four Grammys for his work on Star Trek XI and Up, walks away with two at the end of the evening.

The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards were held this weekend, and Giacchino won two Grammys for his work on Up, the computer-animated adventure story about a seventy-eight-year old man who ties balloons to his house and sails away, accompanied by an eight-year-old boy scout stowaway.

(more…)

Michael Giacchino has been nominated for four Grammys, including one for the Star Trek XI soundtrack.

Giacchino was nominated in three different categories for his work on both Up and Star Trek XI.

(more…)

Star Trek XI composer Michael Giacchino has been nominated for a World Soundtrack Award.

As reported by the World Soundtrack Academy, Giacchino has been nominated for Film Composer of the Year, for his work on Star Trek XI, Up, and Land of the Lost.

(more…)

Given the nature of the movie, the music for Star Trek XI needed to be different than the typical “space music” score.

As reported by Titan Magazines, Star Trek XI composer Michael Giacchino thought at first to approach the music for Star Trek XI as was usually done with space movies, but realized that it wouldn’t be the right thing for this particular movie. “Quite honestly, that was the first direction we went in, and I had written several themes that were in that space opera kind of vein, somewhere between what Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams did, in that language of what we’ve all come to know as ‘space music,’ explained Giacchino. “On every one of them, it felt right for a big space movie, but it didn’t feel like our movie. Again it goes back to the idea that we were trying to do something that wasn’t exactly what you had seen or heard before. We wanted to do something that was a little different. Space movies don’t have to have this sound.”

(more…)

Several clips of music from Michael Giacchino‘s scoring of Star Trek XI have appeared online.

As reported by Colosseum and YouTube, fans can listen to four music clips from the forthcoming Star Trek XI soundtrack. The clips include “Labor of Love,” “Enterprising Young Man,” “Does it Still McFly?,” and “End Credits.” In all, there are two minutes of music in this video, which is located here.
(more…)