Alexandre Desplat facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alexandre Desplat
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Desplat in 2015
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Alexandre Michel Gérard Desplat |
| Born | 23 August 1961 Paris, France |
| Genres | Film score, contemporary classical, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, orchestrator, conductor |
| Instruments | Piano, trumpet, flute |
Alexandre Michel Gérard Desplat (born August 23, 1961) is a famous French composer and conductor. He creates music for movies, also known as film scores. He has won many important awards for his work. These include two Academy Awards (Oscars), three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and two Grammy Awards. France has also given him special honors for his contributions to art and culture.
Alexandre Desplat won his two Academy Awards for the movies The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and The Shape of Water (2017). He was also nominated for an Oscar many other times. Some of these nominations were for The Queen (2006), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), and Little Women (2019).
He has written music for many different types of films. These range from smaller, independent movies to big Hollywood blockbusters. Some of his well-known movie scores include The Golden Compass (2007), The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), and the last two Harry Potter films (2010 and 2011). He also composed for Moonrise Kingdom (2012), Zero Dark Thirty (2012), and Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022). Desplat often works with famous directors like Wes Anderson, Chris Weitz, George Clooney, and Guillermo del Toro.
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Early Life and Music Journey
Alexandre Desplat was born in Paris, France. His father was French, and his mother was a Greek poet from Athens. His parents met while studying in the United States. They later moved back to Paris, where Alexandre grew up with his two older sisters.
Alexandre started playing the piano when he was five years old. He then learned the trumpet and later the flute. He loved many kinds of music, from French classical composers like Maurice Ravel to jazz and world music. He especially loved movie music from a young age. He started collecting soundtracks from Alfred Hitchcock films. He decided to become a film composer after hearing John Williams's amazing music for Star Wars in 1977. Other composers who inspired him were Maurice Jarre and Nino Rota.
Desplat studied music at important schools like the Royal College of Music in London and the Conservatoire de Paris. While working on his first film, he met a violinist named Dominique Lemonnier. She became his favorite musician to work with, and they later got married. His big chance in Hollywood came in 2003. This was when he composed the music for the film Girl with a Pearl Earring.
A Career in Film Music
Alexandre Desplat has created music for over 100 films. He has worked on many French movies and Hollywood productions. Some of his early notable works include The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005) and The Queen (2006).
He has also written songs for films that were sung by famous artists. Desplat has even composed music for plays performed in theaters. He has conducted his music with famous groups like the London Symphony Orchestra. He also teaches master classes about music in Paris and London.
In 2007, he composed for The Golden Compass. He won a Golden Globe Award for his music in The Painted Veil. He also received his first Oscar nomination for The Queen. In 2008, he got another Oscar nomination for Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Desplat continued to score many popular movies. These include Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), and The King's Speech (2010). For The King's Speech, he received his fourth Oscar nomination.
In 2011, he composed the music for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. The director of the film was very impressed with his work on Part 1. He also worked on The Tree of Life and The Ides of March that year.
In 2012, his scores included Rise of the Guardians, Zero Dark Thirty, and Argo. Argo earned him nominations for an Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA. In 2014, he won his first Academy Award for The Grand Budapest Hotel. His music for The Imitation Game was also nominated that year. In 2018, he won his second Academy Award for The Shape of Water.
Personal Life
Alexandre Desplat is married to Dominique "Solre" Lemmonier, the violinist he met early in his career. They have two daughters, Antonia and Ninon. Desplat has music studios in both Los Angeles and Paris, but he mainly lives in Paris.
Accolades
Alexandre Desplat has received many awards and nominations for his amazing work. These include two Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, three César Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards.
Special Honors
- Officer of the Ordre national du Mérite (2016)
- Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters (2016)
- Knight of the Legion of Honour (2011)
Images for kids
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Alexandre Desplat in 2015
See also
In Spanish: Alexandre Desplat para niños
