Biography

The Hollywood Studio Symphony is the credited name of the symphony orchestra behind many major soundtracks. Although the name "Hollywood Studio Symphony" may lead listeners to think that it is a conventional symphony orchestra like the London Symphony Orchestra, the actual members of the ensemble are session musicians contracted individually and differ from soundtrack to soundtrack.

List of all Musicians Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra

Violins: Sid Page (CM), Eun Mee Ahn, Ishani Bhoola, Robert Brosseau, Rebecca Bunnell, Darius Campo, Roberto Cani, Lily Ho Chen, Ron Clark, Kevin Connolly, Assa Drori, Bruce Dukov, Samuel Fischer, Ron Folsom, Christine Frank, Berj Garabedian, Armen Garabedian, Julie Gigante, Galina Golovin, Agnes Gottschewski, Endre Granat, Andrew Graybill, Laurence Greenfield, Henry Gronnier, Alan Grunfeld, Julian Hallmark, Tamara Hatwan, Amy Hershberger, Eric Hosler, Tiffany Hu, Norman Hughes, Leslie Katz, Peter Kent, Ray Kobler, Miran Kojian, Ana Landauer, Sungil Lee, Dimitrie Leivici, Phil Levy, Lorand Lokuszta, Rene Mandel, Michael Markman, Cynthia Moussas, Armen Movsessian, Kenneth E. Munday, Helen Nightengale, Grace Oh, Robin Olson, Sara Parkins, Katia Popov, Barbara Porter, Susan Rishik, Rafael Rishik, Mark Robertson, Jay Rosen, Anatoly Rosinsky, Irene Sazer, Isabelle Senger, Haim Shtrum, Tereza Stanislav, Josefina Vergara, Shalini Vijayan, Irina Voloshina, Frank Ge-Fang Yang

Violas: Brett Banducci, Bob Becker, Robert Berg, Kira Blumberg, Denyse Buffum, Brian Dembow, Thomas Diener, Alma Fernandez, Rick Gerding, Pam Goldsmith, Steve Gordon, Jennie Hansen, John Hayhurst, Carrie Holzman-Little, Peter Jandula-Hudson, Janet Lakatos, Shawn Mann, German Markosian, Darrin McCann, Dan Neufeld, Simon Oswell, Andrew Picken, Kazi Pitelka, Shanti Randall, Kathryn Reddish, Carolyn Riley, Jim Ross, Nancy Roth, Daniel Seidenberg, Julie Staudhammer, Marda Todd, Karen Van Sant, David Walther

Celli: Jodi Burnett, Paul Cohen, Matthew Cooker, Larry Corbett, Doug Davis, Doug Davis, Chris Ermacoff, Trevor Handy, Paula Hochhalter, Dennis Karmazyn, Erika Duke-Kirkpatrick, Armen Ksajikian, Jennifer Lee Kuhn, Tim Landauer, Victor Lawrence, Roger Lebow, Dane Little, David Low, Margaret Parkins, Steve Richards, Andrew Shulman, Tina Soule, Dave Speltz, Mary Anne Steinberger, Sebastian Toettcher, Richard Treat, Cecelia Tsan

Basses: Steve Edelman, Don Ferrone, Oscar Hidalgo, Christian Kollgaard, Ed Meares, Bruce Morgenthaler, Charles Nenneker, David Parmeter, Sue Ranney, David Stone, Mike Valerio, Kenneth Wild

Flutes: James Walker, Gary Foster, Susan Greenberg, Stephen Kujala, Stephanie McNab, David Shostac

Clarinets: Dan Higgins (and Sax), Lorin Levee, Philip O'Connor, Steven Roberts, Ralph Williams

Oboes: Phil Ayling, Chris Bleth, Tom Boyd, Earle Dumler

Bassons: Michael O'Donovan, Dave Riddles

French Horns: Brian O'Connor, Steve Becknell, David Duke, Paul Klintworth, Joseph Meyer, Todd Miller, John Reynolds, Kurt Snyder, Richard Todd, Phil Yao

Trumpets: Malcolm McNab, Rick Baptist, Jon Lewis, Marissa Benedict, Tim Divers, Warren Luening, David Washburn

Trombones: Bill Booth, Steve Holtman, Andy Malloy, Al Veeh

Tubas: Tommy Johnson, James Self

Percussion: Alan Estes, Mike Fisher, Dan Greco, Peter Limonick, Thomas Raney, Steve Schaeffer, Terry Schonig, Don Williams, Bob Zimmitti, Timpani: Timm Boatman Drums/Percussion: Judith Chilnick

Piano/Keyboards: Tom Ranier, Rich Ruttenberg

Harps: Katie Kirkpatrick, Gayle Levant.

The use of the "Hollywood Studio Symphony" name is part of a 2002 contract negotiated between the American Federation of Musicians and the Association of Motion Picture & Television Producers to provide an incentive for soundtracks to be recorded with Los Angeles musicians instead of foreign musicians and recording venues (often in London and Prague) who were cheaper. In the new contract, the AFM musicians agreed to lower their record rates in exchange for individual credits to all the musicians that perform the score as well as recognition for the local community venture. Thus, the "Hollywood Studio Symphony" name is given to the entire ensemble in addition to the individual musician credits as a way to brand the LA effort.