From Hollywood to Asia, a life of making music for the movies
Sitting down at the piano, turning Charlie Chaplin’s movies on, and turning off the lights, he started accompanying the silent movie classics, while improvising and experimenting with themes. That’s what Nathan Wang used to love doing as a youngster.
From a very young age, he practiced the art of scoring pictures and decades later, the classically-trained pianist-turned-composer, who was born and lives in Los Angeles, in the United States, does the same thing every day.
He is one of the most successful composers in Hollywood and Asian cinema, who has written music for Jackie Chan movies, Steven Spielberg documentaries and live-action and animated movies for Disney and DreamWorks.
His compositions have been performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Opera and the Chicago Symphony.
“Obviously, different kinds of movies and different kinds of television shows dictate different kinds of themes. And for me to truly understand the musical signature I must compose, I watch the movie over and over. I think this part is so much fun, and is always a satisfying experience,” says Wang, 61.
Lately, the two-time Emmy-award winner has expanded his range to TV shows produced on the Chinese mainland, including the popular 42-episode TV drama, The First Half
of My Life, which aired in the summer of 2017 and was based on Hong Kong writer Isabel Nee Yeh-su’s novel The
First Half of My Life, and 41-episode TV drama, Dear My Friends, which started broadcasting on Dec 10.
“I’m very proud of my Chinese heritage, and I never thought that my music career would allow me to venture back to my motherland. By being associated with Chinese television and movies, I’m always trying to broaden my Chinese music repertoire. I think it’s filled with such rich and vibrant instruments, and I love combining the two musical cultures together. The synthesis is always a rewarding tapestry of music,” he says.
Wang’s first movie job in China was Sophie’s Revenge in 2009, which was directed by Eva Jin and starred Chinese actresses Zhang Ziyi and Fan BingBing.
Wang started playing piano at the age of three, encouraged by his mother.
His father, who played violin and clarinet, then introduced him to jazz artists, and after studying composition with famed composer Morten Lauridsen at the University of Southern California at nine, he graduated from the University of Southern California at the age of 13.
He received a Fulbright scholarship to continue music graduate studies at Oxford University, England, in 1979.
When he returned to the US in 1981, Wang started playing jazz piano in a five-star restaurant, where he was noticed by a television producer and invited to play for an actress auditioning to sing on a television show.
Then he got the opportunity to work at Warner Brothers. As a young composer then, Wang’s job was to write scores for a 40-piece orchestra to record.
“There is nothing more thrilling than to write music and then hear it on the big screen in front of an audience and see how they react. Sometimes I hear laughter, and sometimes a sniffle. I try to associate with that, and hope that my music has something to do with that reaction,” Wang says.
The Warner Brothers job let Wang work with renowned directors and producers and be associated with many movies which he is proud of.
Among the films are kung fu star Jackie Chan’s movies.
Wang grew up watching Jackie Chan’s movies.
So, when he got a telephone call from Hong Kong film director Stanley Tong asking him to write music for his Jackie Chan movie, Rumble in
the Bronx, in 1995, Wang was thrilled. And since that first collaboration, Wang has worked with Tong on other Jackie Chan movies such as Who Am I?, The Myth, Chinese Zodiac and most recently Kung Fu Yoga.
“It’s always a fun time writing for Jackie’s action packed movies because the work a hybrid of lighthearted, zany as well as fast paced and energetic music. Each movie to me must have its own theme and signature, and I always try to make sure that the music has its own style and brand,” says Wang.
In 1999, Wang collaborated with German film score composer Hans Zimmer on the music for Steven Spielberg’s The Last Days, which won an Academy Award for best documentary.
Besides movies and TV dramas, the prolific and versatile composer was also commissioned to write in 2000 for the Los Angeles Opera, spearheaded by artistic director Placido Domingo, and wrote Faye Wong’s hit song, I Trust You.
Speaking about his plans, he says: “I think that I would be depriving myself of many challenges if I shut myself from any genre. Music is music, whether it is classical, pop or any other style. I try to be as productive as I can every day, every hour. I love music, so I live music. Writing animation, then a dramatic movie, then a young, hip TV show, and then pop songs or rap songs, that’s what writing is all about.”