
A
composer of instinct whose roots are in classical composition,Kenneth
Lampl's powerful and provocative music reflects a wide range
of musical influences, from ambient sound to cutting edge
electronic. " I find inspiration everywhere so it's thrilling
to be able to write a big Hollywood orchestral cue combined
with blistering guitars one day, and be programming ethereal
synth textures over a Pucciniesque operatic voice the next."
It is this versatility of talent that has attracted the
attention of a growing number of filmmakers.
Music has
long been a passion for Ken Lampl. A child with no formal
musical training, he taught himself to play the the saxophone
and piano at a very young age and began improvising music
when he was 8 years old: "I was fascinated by the mystery
of where music came from and loved improvising. I was never
interested in joining the school band because I knew that
what I was improvising was better than what they were playing",
he says, laughing at his youthful immodesty. However, it
wasn't until he was 17, and studying saxophone with Lionel
Hampton's arranger and saxophonist Paul Jeffrey, that Ken
decided to make music his life's work. For the next several
years he practiced at least 7 hours a day, traveled, and
honed his skills performing with the legendary jazz drummer
Chico Hamilton at Lincoln Center, the Apollo Theater and
the JVC jazz festival. While touring and finishing his degree
in music. he began studying classical composition with Pulitzer
Prize winning composer Charles Wuorinen. Under Wuorinen's
guidance Ken composed his first award winning orchestral
piece Parallax, and while still a student, saw his work
performed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
"After
that performance, I put down my saxophone forever, despite
the fact that the critical reception was substantially less
than positive."" Ken recalls. He continued to study composition
in the doctoral program at the Juilliard School of Music
and was then awarded a scholarship to the Tanglewood Music
Festival where he had the opportunity to study with his
childhood musical hero, John Williams. "What I was most
impressed by was not only the impeccable musicianship of
Williams," Ken notes, " but his understanding of film. For
him, film scoring was the unification of literature, psychology,
philosophy and music, and that was immediately appealing
to me. The door was opened, and I suddenly knew exactly
where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do with my music."
For Kenneth
Lampl, there is no greater joy than composing music. "I
always wanted to create music because it is an opportunity
to bring something of beauty into the world - something
that has not existed before - and enable people to experience
that which lies beyond the immediate senses."