Hey Kids, Meet John Williams
from the Hey Kid's, Meet the Composer Index

John Williams (1932- ) American Composer, Conductor and Pianist

John Williams was born on February 8, 1932, in Floral Park, New York. In 1948 John moved with his family to Los Angeles, California. He later attended college near his home in Los Angeles where he began to study composition. After college he was drafted into the United States Air Force where he had the opportunity to arrange music for, and conduct the Air Force band. In 1954, when his service ended, Williams moved to New York City and enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music. After completing his education at Juilliard, Williams moved back to Los Angeles to begin working as a film studio orchestrator. Eventually he was given the opportunity to compose the theme to the television series Lost in Space . For Williams, this marked the beginning of a career that has spanned six decades producing some of our best music for film.

His film scores include:
Jaws (1975) for which he won a Golden Globe and an Oscar
Star Wars (1977) for which he won a Golden Globe and an Oscar
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) for which he received an Oscar nomination
Superman (1978) for which he received an Oscar nomination and double Grammy nominations
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) for which he received an Oscar, and double Grammy nominations
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) for which he received a Golden Globe and an Oscar
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) for which he received an Oscar nomination
Home Alone (1990) for which he received double Oscar nominations
Hook (1991) for which he received Grammy & Oscar nominations
Jurassic Park (1993)
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001) for which he received Grammy and Oscar nominations
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer«s Stone (2001) for which he received Oscar and double Grammy nominations
War of the Worlds (2005) for which he received a Grammy nomination

In total John Williams has received 5 Academy Awards and 45 Academy Award nominations. Together with composer Alfred Newman, John Williams is the second most nominated individual after Walt Disney.

John Williams currently lives in California.

Homeschool Lesson Plans

Download a New Ringtone
Download John Williams' Star Wars Main Title theme as your cell phone's new ringtone. Ask your kids who the composer is, or facts about the composer, when the phone rings. You may often find yourself asking, "Is that my phone" because you don't remember the ringtone, but your kids will be enriched.

Create a Wordfind
Create your own wordfind at puzzlemaker.com with the keywords from the biography. Take your scissors and cut off the part that shows the words used to create the search. Let them know how many words there are to find, and then ask your child to complete the wordfind by identifying the keywords found in the biography, and then circling them in the puzzle.

Watch a YouTube Video
Watch a YouTube video of two of John Williams' popular film scores:

Star Wars: Main Title
Superman: March Theme

Play the Music
John Williams' Theme from Star Wars is available in Faber and Faber's piano book series. Ask your piano teacher about including the study of this piece in your child's music lesson.

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