CHARLES FOX was born in New York City in 1940, and graduated from the High School of Music & Art. He received his formal musical education with Nadia Boulanger in Paris, and studied with the great jazz pianist Lennie Tristano in New York as well as electronic music with Vladimir Ussachevsky at Columbia University.
Charles’ music for the concert hall and theater include the ballet, “A SONG FOR DEAD WARRIORS” which was commissioned by and performed around the U.S. and Europe with the San Francisco Ballet. It was also filmed for PBS Great Performances on their Ballet in America series and subsequently won the Emmy award for “best classical programming”. The ballet has also been in the repertoire of the Dance Theater of Harlem since 1994 and they continue to perform the ballet, most recently in London at Sadler’s Wells, April 2004. Charles’ music has been described as “an effective, brooding, violent score”....Washington Post, and, “an eclectic score with its passages of neoclassicism, big sceaming climaxes, eerie vagaries and wailing vocal punctuations”...Los Angeles Herald Examiner. His recent ballet, “ZORRO” was commissioned by the Smuin Ballet and received 18 performances in San Francisco, May, 2003. It is scheduled to be performed in Europe this coming year. Charles Fox’s ballet score is “eclectic, vibrant dance music and boasts passages of sheer musical delight”….San Francisco Chronicle”… Charles conducted the premiere of “ZORRO”, Suite from the ballet” with the Mancini Institute Orchestra in July 2004.
He has conducted performances and recordings of his music with the Columbus Symphony, Kanegawa Philharmonic in Tokyo, Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra in Prague, State Opera Orchestra in Budapest and orchestras in London, Caracas and New York. He has also conducted concerts for his friend, Jerry Goldsmith.
Among many works he has written for orchestra, chamber ensembles, and chorus are, “A Thousand Heroes” suite, “Victory at Entebbe” suite, performed most recently with the Jerusalem Symphony, and a cantata the he is currently working on, “Gates of Heaven”.
Charles has composed the music for over 100 motion pictures and television films including, BARBARELLA, NINE TO FIVE, GOODBYE COLUMBUS, ONE ON ONE, OH GOD, BOOK II, TWO MINUTE WARNING, A SEPARATE PEACE, and FOUL PLAY, for which he received one of his two Academy Award nominations. The other was for the film, THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN.
Among his popular songs are, READY TO TAKE A CHANCE AGAIN, I GOT A NAME and KILLING ME SOFTLY WITH HIS SONG, which received the Grammy award for best song. His TV shows and theme songs include, THE LOVE BOAT, HAPPY DAYS, LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY, WONDER WOMAN, THE PAPER CHASEand LOVEAMERICAN STYLE , for which he received two Emmy Awards.
His works for theatre include the musicals, A MIDSUMMER’S NIGHT’S DREAM performed at the John Anson Ford Theatre starring Cleavon Little and Mare Winningham, and THE ELEVENTH starring Shelley Berman in Fort Lauderdale and Los Angeles, both in collaboration with lyricist, Norman Gimbel. With lyricist Hal David, he has written the musicals, THE CHOSEN based on the book by Chaim Potok, and THE TURNING POINT, based on the motion picture.
Charles was the recipient of the BMI’s 1992 Richard Kirk award for outsanding life achievement and he was a 2004 inductee into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame.
