Congratulations to Wendy & Lisa on Their ASCAP Honor!

Today, The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) announced that Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman will be the recipients of the very first ASCAP Shirley Walker Award! 

As is stated in ASCAP's announcement:

The Shirley Walker Award honors those whose achievements have contributed to the diversity of film and television music. Shirley Walker, an ASCAP member, was the first prominent female film and TV composer. As the first female composer to get a solo score credit on a major Hollywood motion picture, she is remembered as a pioneer for women in the film industry.

"Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman are two of the finest composers working in film and TV music," said ASCAP Vice President of Film & TV/Visual Media Shawn LeMone. "Their music sets new standards for excellence, and their achievements have inspired a generation of female composers looking to follow their lead. I can think of no more deserving recipients of ASCAP's very first Shirley Walker Award." 

This award couldn't go to better and more influential composers! Since their first composing gig (Dangerous Minds) to their current Television work (The Witches of East End), Lisa and Wendy have inspired and encouraged both women and a new generation of musicians to consider the art of movie and television composition.

The award ceremony will be held June 25th, 2014 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, California. Unfortunately, for us fans (who would love to be there), the ceremony is by invitation only. Hopefully, ASCAP will either provide video or a great description of the ceremony.

Again, CONGRATULATIONS to the dynamic duo! This is an award that is well-deserved and couldn't go to more talented musicians.

Billboard also released an announcement that you can read here: Wendy & Lisa to Receive ASCAP's Inaugural Shirley WalkerAward

Wendy & Lisa are Honored at Score! (Video Included)

Sorry! It's been a while since there has been a good Wendy & Lisa News post, but the ladies have been pretty quiet (they are probably doing something cool like 'working' and 'living life'. lol).

However, the dynamic duo were recently honored at a first-time, sold-out event called "Score!" As the Hollywood Reporter says, Score! is the brainchild of TV Academy Music Peer Group Governor Michael A. Levine who envisioned a concert in which a 67-piece orchestra and a 40-voice LA chorus would perform some of TV music's greatest compositions. The event, sponsored by The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, was held May 21st at UCLA's Royce Hall. 

Both Lisa Coleman and Wendy Melvoin were in the audience to see their work from Heroes, Touch, Carnivale, and Nurse Jackie conducted by the very talented Suzie Katayama (who played stings along with Lisa's brother, David Coleman, on Purple Rain's "Take Me With You", "Baby I'm A Star", and "Purple Rain". Ms. Katayama also did work on Madonna's Ray of Light album and has worked with many other great performers).

The "Score!" event is yet another reminder (besides their Emmy) of how talented both Lisa & Wendy truly are. In a field heavily dominated by men, they demonstrate the breadth, talent, and work ethic that women can posses and combine these ideals to reach the highest echelons of television composing. As a woman, they will always be an inspiration to me (and, if I had an ounce of musical ability, they would be even greater roll models).

Thanks to the ladies' great manager, we can witness their very cool honor! 

Enjoy!

Congratulations to Wendy & Lisa on the Renewal of 'Witches of East End'!

Wendy & Lisa, the dynamic scoring duo, are the composers for the brand new show, Witches of East End, currently airing on cable’s Lifetime Channel. Lifetime has announced that Witches will return, next year, for its second season.
 
According to the New York Post, Witches of East End “is averaging 3 million viewers and 1.7 million viewers in the key adults 18-49 and 25-54 demos…. The drama’s first season finale airs Dec. 15.”

The new season of Witches is set to premiere in 2014 with 13 new episodes.

In case you don’t know, Wendy & Lisa have been the television composers for the shows “Touch”, “Nurse Jackie”, “Prime Suspect”, “Mercy”, “Heroes”, “Bionic Woman”, “Crossing Jordan”, and “Snoops”.

For more info about Witches of East End, see the official website: Lifetime’s Witches of East End

Wendy & Lisa Release Touch Theme!

Are you saddened by having to wait until Fall for anothe episode Touch? Well, you can re-live the opening sequence *anytime* you want to!  Thankfully, the ladies were allowed to release the Touch Theme on iTunes! It features 2 slightly different versions: 1) Girls Brothers Mix and 2) Battle Tapes Mix.  The Girls Brothers Mix features a few more instruments than the show opener.  In addition, some of you who answered Lisa's call for sining numbers (a while back, Lisa asked fans to call in and sing 1....10 in the same tune as the alphabet) just might hear yourselves at the end of The Girls Brothers Mix. Very cool!!!!


So, give yourselves a treat and pick up the Touch Theme on iTunes!  You can find it here: Touch Theme iTunes

Come See Wendy & Lisa at WonderCon!!!

If you will be attending WonderCon 2012, at the Anaheim Convention Center, come see Wendy & Lisa!  The ladies will be on a panel discussing "Famous TV Theme Music".  The panel takes place Friday, March 16th from 5:00pm-6:00pm (Room 213).  


From the WonderCon Website:
5:00-6:00 Famous TV Theme Music— Composers of popular television theme songs discuss their writing process and their influences to their craft. Charles Fox (The New Adventures of Wonder Woman, Love Boat, Happy Days), Wendy Melvoin & Lisa Coleman (Carnivale, Heroes), Jeremy Zuckerman & Benjamin Wynn (Avatar the Last Airbender: The Legend of Korra) and additional special guests will discuss their contributions to TV theme music. Moderated by Anne Cecere, director of Film & TV relations of BMI, and Chandler Poling, White Bear PR founder. Attendees will get to see a select clip from the new series The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra. Room 213 


So, if you are going to be at WonderCon on Friday, let Wendy & Lisa school you on television composing!  They are always funny and insightful and the panel is sure to be interesting!

Watch Fox's New Series "Touch" and Listen to Wendy & Lisa!

Tonight, Thursday, March 15th, Fox (Network) will be re-airing the premier episode of "Touch".  In case you are un-aware, Touch is composed by the ever-talented Lisa Coleman and Wendy Melvoin!  


Written and created by Tim Kring (who also worked with Wendy & Lisa on "Crossing Jordan" and "Heroes"), Touch is about 11 year-old Jake (David Mazouz) who neither communicates nor appears to understand much of what is going on around him.  His father, Martin Bohm (Kiefer Sutherland), tries desperately to form a bond with his son without any apparent success. Through a series of events, Bohm realizes that his son recognizes much more than anyone realizes.  The young Jake tries desperately to get his father to perform specific actions which will impact people around the world in a domino effect.


Touch is insightful, interesting, and complex.  What seems like completely unrelated people and events, from around the world, become woven together to make a tapestry of suspense and adventure.


If not for the great writing, watch Touch for the great score!  


Touch will begin its 'regular' schedule next week, Thursday, March 22nd at 9pm (EST).


To learn more about Touch, visit the official site: Touch Official Site

Watch The Premier of Wendy & Lisa’s Newest Scoring Adventure, “Prime Suspect”!

Tonight, on NBC, you can watch the premier of “Prime Suspect”. According to the show’s website "Prime Suspect takes a look inside a New York City homicide department. The series stars Maria Bello ("A History of Violence") as tough-as-nails NYPD homicide Detective Jane Timoney, an outsider who has just transferred to a new squad where her new colleagues already dislike her.” The show is based on a “critically acclaimed” UK television series of the same name.

I have seen the show’s commercials and it looks very interesting (if you are into police dramas). Aside from the interesting plot, however, you will be able to listen to none other than Wendy & Lisa performing the score! Lately, they have been hard at work composing the score for each episode and I can’t wait to hear what they have in store for Prime Suspect. The show appears to definitely have a different feel from Heroes, Nurse Jackie, Carnivale, Crossing Jordan, and even Snoops, so it will be interesting to see what they come with to help tell a story that appears to be more ‘gritty’ than their past television series.

Prime Suspect will air Thursdays on NBC.  Be sure to check your local television listings for the time!

Lisa Coleman Talks About Composing and The Evolving Craft

Lisa Coleman talks about television composing in an interview with WNYC 93.9 FM. During the interview, she discusses the continuing trend in short TV themes (if there is even a theme) and elaborates on some of the scoring work that she has done with Wendy. If you would like to hear the interview, click here: The Evolution Will Be Televised

Tavis Smiley Interviews Wendy & Lisa!!!

Radio and talk show host, Tavis Smiley, interviewed Wendy & Lisa as a part of his series on Emmy winners!  The ladies discuss their childhood musical education, their creative scoring/composing process, and how being in The Revolution helps/hinders their scoring opportunities.

The interview is great and very well conducted! Treat yourself and take a listen to the interview here: Tavis Smiley Interviews Wendy & Lisa

Wendy and Lisa Backstage At The Emmys!!!

The Archive of American Television was great enough to post Wendy & Lisa's post-Emmy win comments on YouTube.  Check out the great videos below!

Congratulations to Emmy Award Winners Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman!

Congratulations to Wendy & Lisa for winning an Emmy Award in the category "Best Main Title Theme Music" for the opening music to Nurse Jackie!!!! This award has a very special historical significance as they are the first women to be nominated AND WIN in this category!!!

Wendy & Lisa are amazingly talented musicians and have done spectacular work composing score for television.  This award is long past due!  Hopefully, the Emmy will validate their immense talent and will open the door to an increasing amount of new and exciting work.

CONGRATULATIONS LADIES!!! YOU DESERVE IT!!!



To see more photos of Wendy & Lisa at the Emmys, click here: LIFE Images of Wendy & Lisa

Wendy & Lisa At Comic Con 2010!!!

If you were not able to make it to this year's San Diego Comic Con and see Wendy & Lisa's panel, don't fret!  Thanks to CW3 Public Relations, you can see some of Wendy & Lisa's panel titled "Behind the Music with CW3PR: Composing for Sci-Fi, Horror, and Fantasy Film & TV"!  The panel took place Thursday, July 22nd at Comic Con and, in addition to Wendy & Lisa, consisted of Michael Giacchino (Lost), Nathan Barr (True Blood), Jim Dooley (Pushing Daisies), John Ottman (Superman Returns), and Jeremy Zuckerman (Avatar: The Last Airbender).  Enjoy the video!!!

Come see Wendy & Lisa at Comic-Con 2010!!!

If you were lucky enough to get tickets to this year’s Comi-Con, in San Diego, come see Wendy & Lisa on Thursday, July 22nd! Wendy & Lisa will be part of a panel discussing “Composing for Sci-Fi, Horror, and Fantasy Film & TV”. The panel will take place from 4:30pm-5:30pm on Thursday, July 22nd. Wendy & Lisa have been composing for television & movies for over a decade. They have composed the score for such sci-fi series as Heroes, Bionic Woman, and Virtuality. The ladies are always entertaining and will provide valuable advice regarding their experiences with composing scores for sci-fi series.

Below is the official description of the panel along with the names of the other panelists.

Thursday, July 22, 2010:

4:30-5:30 Behind the Music with CW3PR: Composing for Sci-Fi, Horror, and Fantasy Film & TV— Award-winning composers Michael Giacchino (Lost), Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman (Heroes), Nathan Barr (True Blood), Jim Dooley (Pushing Daisies), John Ottman (Superman Returns), and Jeremy Zuckerman (Avatar: The Last Airbender) have all composed for Comic-Con's fan-favorite movies and TV series and are here to share a behind-the-scenes perspective on creating music for television and film. Together they will discuss their respective projects and how they got their big break into the music composing industry. Q&A following the panel plus exclusive giveaways for attendees. Moderated by BMI executive Anne Cecere, director of film/television relations and CW3PR vice-president Chandler Poling. Room 24ABC

To learn more about Comic-Con 2010 and the other panels between July 22nd and July 25th, click here: Comic-Con 2010

To learn more about Wendy & Lisa’s composing experience (along with samples of their compositions), click here:  Wendy & Lisa Projects and here: Wendy & Lisa Composers

Congratulations to Wendy & Lisa on Their Emmy Nomination!!!

Yesterday (yes, I am a day late), Wendy & Lisa received the recognition that has been LONG OVERDUE: They were nominated for an Emmy in the ‘Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music’ category for their funky opening for Nurse Jackie!!!

Wendy & Lisa have an extensive television scoring career that spans more than 10 years.  Some of the television shows that they have scored include ‘Snoops’, ‘Crossing Jordan’, ‘Mercy’, ‘Nurse Jackie’, and ‘Heroes’ amongst others.  They have done amazing scoring work and are definitely worthy not only of the Emmy nomination but also the Emmy win!


You can hear the Nurse Jackie Theme as well as other great tracks from the score, on the Nurse Jackie Season One Soundtrack

The Emmy awards will air Sunday, August 29th at 8pm (EST). You can read about the Emmys and the other nominees on the official Emmy website.

Once again, CONGRATULATIONS to Wendy & Lisa!!! We fans are extremely excited for you and are incredibly proud of your wonderful body of work!  We will be keeping our fingers crossed for you!

Video of Wendy and Lisa at the “I Create Music” ASCAP EXPO!!!

As mentioned in an earlier post, Wendy and Lisa, along with James S. Levine and Bear McCreary, served as panelists at the “I Create Music” ASCAP EXPO held April 22-24, 2010 at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel in Los Angles.  The panel was titled "Making the Scene: TV Composers” and discussed 'the daily challenges of creating music for some of today's most popular network and cable television shows, as well as their experience in creating music for other media'.

Fortunately, a video was released of their panel which you can watch below!

Lisa Coleman at WonderCon!!!

The Heroes fan site, House Petrelli, was at WonderCon on April 2nd and attended the "Setting the Score: Composing for Film & Television" panel that featured Lisa Coleman who (as you know) co-composes the score for Heroes. The interview gives great insight on what happened during the WonderCon panel as well as new information regarding how Lisa and Wendy compose Heroes. For example, the article mentions that up until last season, Lisa and Wendy did not have a separate ‘sound designer’. Therefore, they were responsible for “combining music, sound effects and dialogue into a complete overall sound for the show.” In addition, Lisa discusses the beautiful cello piece written earlier in the season for the character ‘Emma’. The article is very interesting and insightful for those interested in composing and for Wendy & Lisa fans, in general. To read the article, please click here: Lisa Coleman at WonderCon

Below, is a short excerpt from the interview:

When asked how she and Wendy were chosen for working on Heroes, she explained that they'd already worked with Tim Kring on Crossing Jordan, and when he came to them with the idea for Heroes, she thought to herself, "It was spiritual and high-minded, and I said 'It doesn't have a chance, but thanks anyway...'" Naturally, the room found that very amusing.

"Heroes has been a composer's dream to work on," she said. "It's been extremely gratifying as a composer."

Curiously, the show didn't have a separate sound designer until this past season, so Wendy and Lisa had to do all that too. Sound design is the art of combining music, sound effects and dialogue into a complete overall sound for the show. Jeremy Zuckerman and Benjamin Wynn talked about having to do the same thing, and they pitched the idea that the music and sound design are one and the same, or should be. This was nicely demonstrated for the audience with the use of video clips showing a scene from Avatar before and after the sound design and score had been added. It clearly demonstrated how music was used as both an effect and a score.

To read the entire interview, click here: Lisa Coleman at WonderCon