Evan Evans(I)

Composer Evan Evans' sensibilities and knowledge of film, along with his innate musical talent and abilities have afforded him incredible opportunities very early in his career. And, while the son of the legendary jazz pianist Bill Evans (8-time Grammy Award recipient, 31-time Grammy Award nominee and recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievment Award) he is driven by his passion for music and his wish to make proud the father he hardly knew. Evan, at the age of 5, was unaware of his musical lineage when his father died in 1980. He swiftly exhibited his interest in music, taking on the piano at age 6. His passion for music composition formed quickly, and so he began private studies. As early as the fifth grade, he obtained special dispensation to study electronic composition, 20th century composition, and experimental music as an 11-year old at nearby Saddleback Junior College. His talents and artistry were undeniable, and upon entering Middle School, he submitted an original three movement suite for piano in competition for the Disney Creativity Challenge Award. He won. He is still the youngest winner to date to receive this national award for "Best Original Composition". As Evan's interests grew with his artistry, he was particularly drawn to the use of music in the Alfred Hitchcock classic, The 39 Steps, and so, decidedly adopted film and music as his lifetime goal of exploration. At age 12 he received his first truly professional assignment writing forty-two minutes of music for Shark Alert, a Capital Media/Phillips CD-interactive about the evolution of sharks. After writing for radio, television, CD-Rom and CD-i, Evan decided it was time to move to Hollywood to pursue film composing at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), with hopes of scoring his first feature film. Studying, writing, and conducting many times a week with veteran composer Don Ray (Twilight Zone, Gunsmoke), top-notch orchestrator Steven Scott Smalley (Batman, Lonesome Dove, Starship Troopers), and music editor Joseph E. Rand (Gorky Park,Titanic), at age 19, Evan emerged a 'seasoned' composer eager for that first feature film. His break came when he scored the intense, claustrophobic thriller, Killers (Icon Entertainment). Evan pursued further studies at the Nadia Boulanger Institute in Paris - sharing the same pedagogy as Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, and Elliot Goldenthal, among others - and in Los Angeles with Steven Scott Smalley, Clare Fischer, and musical giant Lalo Schifrin Coyote, Evans second feature, revolved around a mistaken identity and the smuggling of immigrants across the United States border. Evan's music exposes the rich, Spanish backdrop for which he very effectively wove a poetic, lyrical and sometimes driving, dramatic score. More recently, Evan's credits include the quirky, dark comedy, Table For One, starring Rebecca De Mornay and Michael Rooker; Tripfall, with Eric Roberts, John Ritter, and Rachel Hunter; and, Newsbreak, with Judge Reinhold, Michael Rooker, and Robert Culp.