Mark Isham

Mark Ware Isham (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician and composer. A trumpeter and keyboardist, Isham works in a variety of genres, including jazz and electronic. He is also a prolific and acclaimed composer of film scores,^[1][2] and has scored over 200 film and television productions since his debut in 1983.

Mark Isham
Born	Mark Ware Isham (1951-09-07) September 7, 1951 (age 74) New York City, U.S.
Genres	Jazz electronic new age
Occupations	Musician composer
Instruments	Piano keyboards trumpet
Years active	1976–present
Labels	ECM Windham Hill Columbia Virgin
Website	isham.com

Isham is a nine-time Grammy Award nominee, winning Best New Age Album for his 1990 self-titled album. He was nominated for an Academy Award for A River Runs Through It (1992), and a Golden Globe Award for Nell (1994). He has also been nominated for six Primetime Emmy Awards, winning Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music for EZ Streets.

External image
Portrait of Mark Isham[3].

Early life

Isham was born in New York City,^[4] the son of Patricia (née Hammond), a violinist, and Howard Fuller Isham, a professor of humanities.^[5] He studied trumpet from a very young age, and made his professional debut at the age of 12. When he was a teenager, Isham and his family moved to the San Francisco bay area, where he played with the Oakland East Bay Symphony.

Career

His discography is extensive and varied, including participation with artists including David Sylvian, Group 87, Art Lande, Pharoah Sanders, Van Morrison, David Torn, and sessions with people like Brian Wilson, Joni Mitchell, Terry Bozzio, Bill Bruford, XTC,^[4] and Siouxsie Sioux.^[6] His musical styles include crossover jazz, post-bop, ambient, progressive electronic, chamber jazz, and new age.^[7]

Film and television scores

He is also a film composer, having worked on numerous films and television series, including The Hitcher, Reversal of Fortune, Point Break, A Midnight Clear, A River Runs Through It, Of Mice and Men, Warrior, Nell, Blade, Crash, The Black Dahlia, The Lucky One, October Sky, and Once Upon a Time.

Isham acted as well in Made in Heaven by Alan Rudolph (1987) and directed The Cowboy and the Ballerina in 1998.

Personal life

Isham is married to Donna Isham.^[8] He is a Scientologist.^[9][8]

Discography

Studio albums and compilations 1983 Vapor Drawings 1985 Film Music 1987 We Begin (with Art Lande) 1988 Castalia 1989 Tibet – a soundtrack 1990 Mark Isham 1991 Songs My Children Taught Me (music only, from the first four Rabbit Ears titles, see below) 1995 Blue Sun 1998 Mark Isham: A Windham Hill Retrospective 1999 Miles Remembered: The Silent Way Project 2009 Bittersweet with Kate Ceberano 2015 The Longest Ride (Original Score Album). Rabbit Ears Storybook Classics 1987 The Steadfast Tin Soldier (Narrated by Jeremy Irons) 1988 The Emperor and the Nightingale (Narrated by Glenn Close) 1989 Thumbelina (Narrated by Kelly McGillis) 1990 The Emperor's New Clothes (Narrated by John Gielgud) 1992 The Boy Who Drew Cats (Narrated by William Hurt) 1994 The Firebird (Narrated by Susan Sarandon) Other 2000 Hymn of Asia: L. Ron Hubbard (Instrument Orchestration and Choral Arrangements) 2006 Theme to the United States Army's Army Strong campaign[10] 2007 Human the Death Dance by Sage Francis (Production on "Good Fashion" and "Water Line") 2009 Dallas et Kate with Kate Ceberano

As member With Group 87 Group 87 (Columbia Records, 1980) A Career in Dada Processing (Capitol Records, 1984) As sideman With Art Lande Rubisa Patrol (ECM, 1976) Desert Marauders (ECM 1978) With Pharoah Sanders Journey to the One (Theresa, 1980) With Van Morrison Into the Music (Mercury, 1979) Common One (Mercury, 1980) Beautiful Vision (Mercury, 1982) Inarticulate Speech of the Heart (Mercury, 1983) Live at the Grand Opera House Belfast (Mercury, 1984) With David Sylvian Brilliant Trees (Virgin, 1984) Secrets of the Beehive (Virgin, 1987) With David Torn Cloud About Mercury (ECM, 1987) With Andy Summers Charming Snakes (Private Music, 1990)

Contributions to soundtracks

Films

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1983	Never Cry Wolf	Carroll Ballard
1984	Country	Richard Pearce	additional music (uncredited)
1984	Mrs. Soffel	Gillian Armstrong
1985	Trouble in Mind	Alan Rudolph
1986	The Making of Liberty	Charles Guggenheim
1986	The Hitcher	Robert Harmon
1987	Made in Heaven	Alan Rudolph
1988	The Moderns	Alan Rudolph
1988	C.A.T. Squad: Python Wolf	William Friedkin	"On the Threshold of Liberty" from Vapor Drawings
1988	The Beast	Kevin Reynolds
1990	Everybody Wins	Karel Reisz
1990	Love at Large	Alan Rudolph
1990	Reversal of Fortune	Barbet Schroeder
1991	Mortal Thoughts	Alan Rudolph
1991	Crooked Hearts	Michael Bortman
1991	Point Break	Kathryn Bigelow
1991	Little Man Tate	Jodie Foster
1991	Billy Bathgate	Robert Benton
1992	A Midnight Clear	Keith Gordon
1992	Sketch Artist	Phedon Papamichael
1992	Cool World	Ralph Bakshi
1992	A River Runs Through It	Robert Redford	Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score. Nominated for an Awards Circuit Community Award for Best Music. Nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.
1992	The Public Eye	Howard Franklin
1992	Of Mice and Men	Gary Sinise
1993	Nowhere to Run	Robert Harmon
1993	Fire in the Sky	Robert Lieberman	Nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Music.
1993	Made in America	Richard Benjamin
1993	Short Cuts	Robert Altman
1993	Romeo Is Bleeding	Peter Medak
1994	The Getaway	Roger Donaldson
1994	The Browning Version	Mike Figgis
1994	Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle	Alan Rudolph
1994	Quiz Show	Robert Redford
1994	Timecop	Peter Hyams
1994	Nell	Michael Apted	Nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Score - Motion Picture.
1994	Safe Passage	Robert Allan Ackerman
1995	Miami Rhapsody	David Frankel
1995	Waterworld	Kevin Reynolds	Rejected score Replaced by James Newton Howard
1995	Losing Isaiah	Stephen Gyllenhaal
1995	The Net	Irwin Winkler
1995	Home for the Holidays	Jodie Foster
1996	Last Dance	Bruce Beresford
1996	Gotti	Steve Shagan
1996	Fly Away Home	Carroll Ballard
1996	Night Falls on Manhattan	Sidney Lumet
1997	Afterglow	Alan Rudolph
1997	Kiss the Girls	Gary Fleder
1997	The Defenders: Payback	Andy Wolk
1997	The Education of Little Tree	Richard Friedenberg
1998	The Defenders: Choice of Evils	Andy Wolk
1998	The Gingerbread Man	Robert Altman
1998	Blade	Stephen Norrington
1998	The Defenders: Taking the First	Andy Wolk
1998	Free Money	Yves Simoneau
1999	At First Sight	Irwin Winkler
1999	Varsity Blues	Brian Robbins
1999	Breakfast of Champions	Alan Rudolph
1999	October Sky	Joe Johnston
1999	Body Shots	Michael Cristofer
2000	Rules of Engagement	William Friedkin
2000	Where the Money Is	Marek Kanievska
2000	Trixie	Alan Rudolph
2000	Men of Honor	George Tillman, Jr.
2001	Save the Last Dance	Thomas Carter
2001	Life as a House	Irwin Winkler
2001	Hardball	Brian Robbins
2001	Don't Say a Word	Gary Fleder
2001	The Majestic	Frank Darabont
2002	Impostor	Gary Fleder
2002	Moonlight Mile	Brad Silberling
2003	The Cooler	Wayne Kramer
2004	Spartan	David Mamet
2004	Miracle	Gavin O'Connor
2004	Highwaymen	Robert Harmon
2004	Twisted	Philip Kaufman
2004	Crash	Paul Haggis
2005	Racing Stripes	Frederik Du Chau
2005	Kicking & Screaming	Jesse Dylan
2005	In Her Shoes	Curtis Hanson
2006	Running Scared	Wayne Kramer
2006	Eight Below	Frank Marshall
2006	Invincible	Ericson Core
2006	Bobby	Emilio Estevez
2006	The Black Dahlia	Brian De Palma
2007	Freedom Writers	Richard LaGravenese
2007	In the Valley of Elah	Paul Haggis
2007	Lions for Lambs	Robert Redford
2007	Gracie	Davis Guggenheim
2007	Reservation Road	Terry George
2007	No Reservations	Scott Hicks
2007	Next	Lee Tamahori
2007	The Mist	Frank Darabont
2008	Pride and Glory	Gavin O'Connor
2008	The Express: The Ernie Davis Story	Gary Fleder
2008	The Secret Life of Bees	Gina Prince-Bythewood
2009	Crossing Over	Wayne Kramer
2009	Not Forgotten	Dror Soref
2009	Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans	Werner Herzog
2009	Fame	Kevin Tancharoen
2010	The Crazies	Breck Eisner
2010	The Conspirator	Robert Redford
2011	The Mechanic	Simon West
2011	Dolphin Tale	Charles Martin Smith
2011	Warrior	Gavin O'Connor
2012	The Factory	Morgan O'Neill
2012	The Lucky One	Scott Hicks	Won a BMI Award for Film Music.
2013	The Conjuring	James Wan
2013	The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete	George Tillman, Jr.
2013	42	Brian Helgeland
2013	Homefront	Gary Fleder
2014	Beyond the Lights	Gina Prince-Bythewood	Nominated for a Black Reel Award for Outstanding Original Score.
2015	The Longest Ride	George Tillman, Jr.
2016	A Family Man	Mark Williams
2016	Mr. Church	Bruce Beresford
2016	Mechanic: Resurrection	Dennis Gansel
2016	The Accountant	Gavin O'Connor
2016	Fallen	Scott Hicks
2017	Megan Leavey	Gabriela Cowperthwaite
2017	Dirty Dancing	Wayne Blair
2018	Duck Duck Goose	Chris Jenkins
2019	Bolden	Dan Pritzker
2019	A Dog's Journey	Gail Mancuso
2019	Togo	Ericson Core
2020	Bill & Ted Face the Music	Dean Parisot
2020	Honest Thief	Mark Williams
2021	Judas and the Black Messiah	Shaka King
2021	Needle in a Timestack	John Ridley
2022	Blacklight	Mark Williams
2022	The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent	Tom Gormican
2023	Shooting Stars	Chris Robinson
2025	Soul on Fire	Sean McNamara

Television series

Year	Title	Episode(s)	Notes
1994	Chicago Hope	"Pilot"
1996	EZ Streets	2
1997	Michael Hayes	"Prequel"
1997	Nothing Sacred		TV series theme
1998	From the Earth to the Moon	2
1999	Family Law	18
2007	The Black Donnellys	18
2008–2009	Crash	26
2011–2018	Once Upon a Time	147
2012	Beauty and the Beast	"Pilot"
2013–2014	Once Upon a Time in Wonderland	7
2015	Blood & Oil	10
2015	American Crime	21
2017	Black Mirror	"Arkangel"
2017	Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams	"Autofac," "Safe and Sound"
2018–2019	Marvel's Cloak & Dagger	20
2019	Godfather of Harlem	10
2020	Little Fires Everywhere	8
2020	Amazing Stories	"The Rift"
2021	The Nevers
2021	Sex/Life	8
2022	The Cleaning Lady
2023	Justified: City Primeval

Documentaries and shorts

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1984	The Times of Harvey Milk	Rob Epstein
1985	Portraits of Anorexia
1985	Rabbit Ears: The Steadfast Tin Soldier
1990	Tibet
1993	Hawaii: Born in Paradise	Robert Hillmann
1993	Hidden Hawaii	Robert Hillmann
1998	The Blood Tide
1999	Galapagos
2001	From the Ground Up	Laura Nix
2011	"Morning"	Dror Soref
2017	Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982–1992	John Ridley

Filmography

As director

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1998	The Cowboy and the Ballerina	Mark Isham	—

As screenwriter

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1998	The Cowboy and the Ballerina	Mark Isham	—

As actor

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1987	Made in Heaven	Alan Rudolph	—

See also

• List of ambient music artists