Michael Convertino: An Introduction

Almost nothing is known about film composer Michael Convertino. No interviews are available online, and I can find no references to any in print either. Even anecdotal material from his many collaborators over the last 25 years is extremely thin on the ground. And there is one solitary photograph of the man himself available (as shown above). I'm not even sure how old he is. The main sources claim he was born in 1953, at least one other (possibly more accurate) claims 1960.

Needless to say he has no web presence at all. Which meant that when buying a dotcom address for this here blog, www.michaelconvertino.com itself was ready available. But the man himself remains a mystery. I suspect that he may have done additional work under other names (in music and possibly elsewhere). But any detective work will come much later.

I will be having a look at the films - 32 features and 3 shorts - as well as the scores as only 12 of the scores have been released (3 as 'promos') on CD. Film composers don't have the luxury of hand picking their films like actors and directors. Projects offered are based on their standing in the industry and existing relationships with producers / directors. And Convertino has never reached the very top echelon of Hollywood composers. No real reason for this other than luck. He seems to have a good reputation both amongst his peers and certainly in film music fandom. But when you score an Oscar favourite like Children of a Lesser God with nothing less than searing beauty and don't even get a nomination... maybe the stars aren't in your favour.

For the uninitiated, you could do worse than sample three decades of Convertino with Children of a Lesser God (1986), Mother Night (1996) and We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004), the latter sadly being only available as a 'promo' (it can be found online).

I adore the music. But the quality of the films is variable to say the least. I wont go be going easy on 'em, so be warned.

In addition to the 12 full length CD soundtracks (and a few others with just one or two 'cues'), Convertino's management have released 2 promo CD sets (one 2 disc, and one 3 disc edition). Huge thanks to STACE for providing copies of these which are impossible to find.

Before we get to Wake Wood (2011), his latest score, it's worth noting that this is Convertino's only soundtrack since 2004. With talk of photography exhibits and directorial debuts (which may or may not have taken place), Convertino appears to have retired from film scoring, barring this one return. Which is obviously a real shame, especially as Wake Wood continued where he'd left off in 2004, when he was completely at the top of his game with We Don't Live Here Anymore. But Wake Wood appears to have been complete and waiting release since 2009. So rather than a comeback, it looks like Convertino was already gone again long before this saw the light of day. I will cling to the hope that he changes his mind.