#‘Lord of the Rings’ Composer Howard Shore to Receive Career Honor at Zurich Film Festival

The Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) will honor legendary film composer Howard Shore with its career achievement award. The triple-Oscar winner, best known for his iconic scores for Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit film trilogies, will receive the award at the 20th ZFF in October.

In addition, Shore will head up the ZFF’s international film music competition for its 20th edition. As jury president, the Canadian composer will judge young talents each tasked with creating an original score to the same 8-minute short film. The three compositions will be performed live by the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich under the direction of Frank Strobel on Oct. 5 during Zurich’s Cinema in Concert gala in the presence of the three nominees. The winning composition will receive a CHF 10,000 ($11,500) cash prize.

“I am honored to come to Zurich for the festival’s 20th anniversary, to receive this career achievement recognition and lead the film music competition jury,” said Shore. “I look forward to the ‘Cinema in Concert’ gala celebrating the art of music in films.”

Shore’s prolific career spans more than 80 films, including more than a dozen with long-time collaborator David Cronenberg, from Scanners and The Fly to recent Cannes competition entry The Shrouds, as well as work for the likes of Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs), Tom McCarthy (Spotlight), and Martin Scorsese (Hugo) alongside countless operas, concertos and other classical works.

The festival called Shore “one of the most renowned composers of our time” whose music has “captivated people of all generations.”

The ZFF career achievement award will be presented to Shore at the “Cinema in Concert” gala at the Tonhalle Zürich on Oct. 5. The 20th Zurich Film Festival runs Oct. 3-13.