Do Howard Shore and John Williams have a collegial relationship or are they really competitive about their work?
Well, they don’t exactly run in the same social circles. I was always shocked when I got into the world of filmmaking. You always expect all these guys to know each other and hang out at some exclusive country club that none of us have heard of. But I think they’re both appreciative of one another’s work. I know Howard enjoys John Williams’s work, and Williams was the first guy clapping when Howard won his Oscar in 2002. So I think that mutual admiration is going on there. Certainly, any composer is a bit competitive, but always striving to do their best. So there is a friendly rivalry of sorts from both. Are you also a musician? I am, yes. What do you play? I’m a percussionist. A little bit of piano and things like that, but mostly a percussionist. Have you actually played some of the score yourself? I didn’t play in the recording sessions. I played in community orchestra arranges and stuff like that, but I always kind of gravitate towards the back of the stage when I go to these perf
