Shore, Howard Leslie

Extract

(b Toronto, 18 Oct 1946). Canadian composer, orchestrator, and conductor. Shore attended Boston’s Berklee College of Music, where he studied with John Bavicchi, John LaPorta, William Maloof, and Charlie Mariano. He returned to Toronto as an alto saxophone player, songwriter, and arranger (1969–72) in the Canadian jazz-rock band Lighthouse. He served as the musical director of the 1970–71 Canadian television variety show ‘The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour’ and wrote music for the 1974 show Spellbound. From 1975 to 1980, Shore worked as the first musical director of ‘Saturday Night Live’, in which he also appeared in many music-related comedy sketches.

Shore’s first film score was for the Canadian horror film I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses (1978). Subsequently, from 1979 to 2014, he composed the music for all but one of the Canadian director David Cronenberg’s psychological thrillers. Shore’s music for Cronenberg appropriately often features a brooding, repressive aesthetic. The score for ...