JOEL McNEELY
One of Holywood's finest young composers, Joel McNeely is now internationally recognized as a major conductor of new and classic film music recordings. Born in Madison, Wisconsin, McNeely studied at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and the University of Miami before earning his Masters degree at the Eastman School of Music under the supervision of Rayburn Wright. The eclectic composer is capable of venturing into all musical territories but is at his best when working in the symphonic idiom of the classic Hollywood masters.
The composer's breakthrough came when he was hired to score George Lucas' critically acclaimed series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. in 1993 he won an Emmy award for his work on the "Young Indiana and the Scandal of 1920" episode, a show focusing on George Gershwin. McNeely has since developed a film career with credits including Charles Haid's Iron Will (1994), Xavier Koller's Squanto: A Warrior's Tale (1994), Mel Smith's Radioland Murders (1994), Deran Sarafian's Terminal Velocity (1994), Kevin Dobson's Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain (1995), Alan Shapiro's Flipper (1996), and Stanley Tong's Supercop (1996). Most recently, has composed scores for the Chevy Chase comedy Vegas Vacation (1997) and Wild America (1997).
Recently McNeely has been recognized as the world's leading interpreter of Bernard Herrmann's music. He made his recording debut with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra in Hollywood '94, a collection of the year's best film scores and, also in 1994, conducted the SSO in the world premiere recording of Bernard Herrmann's complete concert suite from Fahrenheit 451.
McNeely established a partnership with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in 1995, recording Hollywood '95 and Bernard Herrmann's classic score for Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. In March 1996, McNeely led the orchestra in a concert titled Symphonic Hollywood at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. On the program that evening was a suite from Shadows of Empire, his composition inspired by the Star Wars novel of the same name. The complete work was recorded with the RSNO and their 150-member choir and went on to spend most of 1996 in the top ten of Billboard classical-crossover chart. The McNeely/RSNO partnership has continued with Hollywood '96, Bernard Herrmann's scores for Hitchcock's Psycho, Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, as well as John Barry's Out of Africa, three titles in the new Varése Sarabande film classic series. McNeely has also recently recorded Herrmann's unused score for Hitchcock's Torn Curtain with the National Philharmonic Orchestra.
Joel McNeely resides in Los Angeles with his wife, violinist Margaret Batjer, and their son, Joshua.
Kevin Mulhall