Michael J. Lewis

Michael J. Lewis is a Welsh composer and conductor born on 11 January 1939 in Aberystwyth, Wales. He trained in harmony, counterpoint, and composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama before briefly teaching in North London. He transitioned to composing full time at the age of 24.

His earliest significant work was Please, Sir, a stage musical that drew the notice of writer and director Brian Forbes and actor Richard Attenborough. Forbes subsequently engaged Lewis to score the 1968 film The Madwoman of Chaillot, starring Katharine Hepburn — his first film score — which earned him an Ivor Novello Award in 1970. He followed that with Upon This Rock, a dramatized documentary about St. Peter's Basilica featuring Orson Welles, which had its premiere at the 1970 Venice Film Festival, and Julius Caesar, a film whose cast included Charlton Heston, Jason Robards, and John Gielgud.

Lewis made his Broadway debut in 1973 with the musical Cyrano, co-written with Anthony Burgess, the author of A Clockwork Orange. The production starred Christopher Plummer, who received a Tony Award for his performance.

Through the late 1970s and into the early 1980s, Lewis composed scores for several films, among them the British cult horror film Theatre of Blood starring Vincent Price, The Medusa Touch starring Richard Burton, and the animated feature The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, for which he received an Emmy Award. In 1982 he scored the thriller Sphinx, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starring Frank Langella and Lesley-Anne Down. He collaborated with Schaffner again on the MGM/UA musical Yes, Giorgio, starring Luciano Pavarotti, sharing the music credit with John Williams.

Lewis subsequently moved into television advertising in Britain, composing for campaigns including British Rail, Tesco, Ford, and Audi, before relocating to the United States in 1986. There he scored national campaigns for clients including IBM, Lipton, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and 3M. His first American television score, for the film Rose and the Jackel starring Christopher Reeve, earned him a Cable ACE Award nomination.

Following the death of his daughter Susannah in 1994, Lewis shifted his focus toward the music of his native Wales, both sacred and secular. He released The Romantic Splendour of Wales in 1997, recorded in Welsh, and went on to produce additional recordings including In the Language of Heaven, The Golden Harp, Hearts Afire, Piano Moon, and Celtic Moon. Lewis has resided in the Wiggins, Mississippi area for many years, where he continues to work as a composer, arranger, and musician.