Composer and conductor Elliot Goldenthal is best known to film audiences for his stirring work on such action and suspense films as "Alien3" (1992), "Interview with the Vampire" (1994) and both "Batman Forever" (1995) and "Batman & Robin" (1997). Theater critics, however, have long acclaimed him as one the best composers of oratorios, concertos, and background music for stage productions.

Something of a prodigy, Goldenthal had his first ballet ("Variations on Early Glimpses") performed at his high school when he was only 14. He demonstrated his versatility by playing in rock bands during the 1970s while also studying with John Corigliano in the 1970s and Aaron Copland in the 80s. With his companion, puppeteer and director Julie Taymor, Goldenthal has collaborated on several stage productions, including the mixed-medium, Uruguayan-inspired "Juan Darien--A Carnival Mass". The original 1988 production earned him an OBIE Award and its 1996 Broadway revival earned the composer a Tony Award nomination.

Additionally, he was commissioned to create a musical piece in honor of Leonard Bernstein's 70th birthday. The resulting piece, "Shadow Play Scherzo" (1988) won critical kudos. Other works include the dark, subtle oratorio "Fire Water Paper" (1995) written to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war. Utilizing themes from the Catholic liturgy and incorporating Buddhist texts as well as contemporary Vietnamese poetry, the tripartite composition veers from furiously violent to ethereal and calming. The composer was also commissioned by the American Ballet Theater to write a full-length ballet version of "Othello" (1997).

Goldenthal's first brush with the film world came in the late 70s with a brief collaboration with Andy Warhol ("Blank Generation", "Cocaine Cowboys"). He did the music for the suspense film "Pet Sematary" (1989), but Goldenthal considered Gus Van Sant's "Drugstore Cowboy" (also 1989) to be his real debut. Van Sant had used music from "Juan Darien" as a stop-gap and asked Goldenthal to provide the finished score. The eerie, almost subliminal music was acclaimed for its enhancement of the mood established by the director, capturing the drug-induced state of its characters.

Goldenthal has come to specialize in suspense and action films; his music is neither soaring nor intrusive, but integrated with background noises and actions. His atmospheric score for "Alien3" recalled works by Corigliano. Each of his subsequent film scores defy description; each possesses a distinctive, somewhat atonal sound. Goldenthal earned his first Oscar nomination for his moody and atmospheric work on Neil Jordan's "Interview With the Vampire". A last minute replacement, the composer created a score that utilized aspects of the musical genres from the three centuries the film spanned. Moving easily from the Rococo to the contemporary, using boys choirs and period instruments, the score set the appropriate tone for the action.