Isham, Mark

Isham, Mark, American composer, instrumentalist, and synthesizer programmer; b. N.Y., Sept. 7, 1951. His mother was a violinist, and his father taught music and art. Mark studied piano, violin, and trumpet from an early age. After his family moved to Calif., he played trumpet in the Oakland and San Francisco Syms. and in the San Francisco Opera Orch. He also played in various jazz and rock bands, including the Beach Boys. He became a synthesizer programmer in the early 1970s, and in 1979 he formed (with Peter Maunu, Patrick O’Hearn, and Terry Bozzio) the groundbreaking artrock Group 87, which produced two albums before its demise in 1986. His first solo album (1983) was the first electronic release by the New Age label Windham Hill. Named one of the top three composers of the 1980s by the American Film Inst., Isham’s numerous film scores include the important documentary The Times of Harvey Milk (1985), as well as A River Runs Through It (1992), which garnered him both Academy Award and Grammy Award nominations, Short Cuts (1993), Nell (1994), which garnered a Golden Globe nomination, and Quiz Show (1994). From 1996 he was also active composing for television, receiving an Emmy Award for his work for the critically acclaimed EZ Streets Isham’s music is slow and delicate, with overlapping harmonies and rhythms in a haze of electronics. It is distinct from other New Age music in its nobility, a hieratic effect created by his special use of brass instruments. Among his early compositions are Vapor Drawings (1983), Castalia (1988), and Tibet (1989).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire