Mychael Danna

Mychael Danna (born September 20, 1958) is a Canadian composer of film and television scores. He won both the Golden Globe and Oscar for Best Original Score for Life of Pi. He has also won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Original Dramatic Score) in his work on the miniseries World Without End.

Personal life Danna's family moved to Burlington, Ontario, when he was four weeks old. He is the brother of fellow composer Jeff Danna. He studied music composition at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music. He has two children with his wife, Aparna.

Career Danna served for five years as composer-in-residence at the McLaughlin Planetarium in Toronto (1987–1992). Works for dance include music for Dead Souls (Carbone Quatorze Dance Company, directed by Gilles Maheu 1996), and a score for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's Gita Govinda (2001) based on the 1000-year-old classical Gita Govinda, with choreographer Nina Menon. In June 2014, Danna was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Toronto, for his career achievements in the field of music.

He has been scoring films since his 1987 feature debut for Atom Egoyan's Family Viewing, a score which earned Danna the first of his thirteen Genie Award nominations. He has won five times for Achievement in Music - Original Score. Danna is recognized as one of the pioneers of combining non-Western sound sources with orchestral and electronic minimalism in the world of film music. This reputation has led him to work with such directors as Atom Egoyan, Deepa Mehta, Terry Gilliam, Scott Hicks, Ang Lee, Gillies MacKinnon, James Mangold, Mira Nair, Billy Ray, Joel Schumacher, and Denzel Washington. His soundtrack for Ang Lee's Life of Pi earned two Academy Award nominations for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for Pi's Lullaby.

Other films include Dan Scanlon's Onward, Mimi Leder's On the Basis of Sex, Nora Twomey's The Breadwinner, Bennett Miller's Capote and Moneyball and Marc Webb's (500) Days of Summer.

On September 30, 2021, Danna received a Career Achievement Award from the Zurich Film Festival.

Filmography Year Title Notes 1987 Family Viewing Caribe 1988 Murder One Blood Relations 1989 Speaking Parts Road to Avonlea TV series One Man Out Cold Comfort Without Work: Not by Choice Short Film Termini Station 1990 Still Life: The Fine Art of Murder 1991 The Adjuster Johann's Gift to Christmas TV Short series Montréal vu par... segment: "En passant" The Big Slice 1993 Hush Little Baby TV movie Gross Misconduct TV movie Ordinary Magic 1994 Exotica The Darling Family Narmada: A Valley Rises Documentary Dance Me Outside 1995 Johnny Mnemonic 1996 Dangerous Offender: The Marlene Moore Story TV movie Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love Lilies 1997 The Ice Storm The Sweet Hereafter 1998 At the End of the Day: The Sue Rodriguez Story 1999 The Boondock Saints With his brother Jeff Danna Girl, Interrupted Don't Think Twice Short Film Ride with the Devil Felicia's Journey 8MM The Confession 2000 Bounce 2001 Hearts in Atlantis Monsoon Wedding The Hire: Chosen Green Dragon With his brother Jeff Danna 2002 Antwone Fisher The Guys Ararat The Matthew Shepard Story Television film 2003 The Snow Walker Shattered Glass Hulk Additional cue "Mother" 2004 Being Julia Vanity Fair 2005 Sohni Sapna Eve and the Fire Horse Tideland With his brother Jeff Danna Water Background score only Genie Award for Best Original Score Capote Where the Truth Lies Aurora Borealis 2006 The Nativity Story Little Miss Sunshine Lonely Hearts 2007 Surf's Up First score for an animated film. Breach Fracture With his brother Jeff Danna 2008 Adoration Management Lakeview Terrace With his brother Jeff Danna 2009 (500) Days of Summer With Rob Simonsen Chloe The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus With his brother Jeff Danna The Time Traveler's Wife 2011 Camelot TV series With his brother Jeff Danna Moneyball 2012 Life of Pi Academy Award for Best Original Score Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score Nominated – Academy Award for Best Original Song ("Pi's Lullaby") 2013 Devil's Knot 2014 Transcendence The Captive Tyrant TV seriesWith his brother Jeff Danna 2015 Sanjay's Super Team Short Film Remember The Good Dinosaur With his brother Jeff DannaReplaced Thomas Newman 2016 Storks With his brother Jeff Danna Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk With his brother Jeff Danna 2017 The Breadwinner With his brother Jeff Danna The Man Who Invented Christmas 2018 On the Basis of Sex 2019 A Dog's Way Home The Red Sea Diving Resort After the Wedding Guest of Honour The Addams Family With his brother Jeff Danna 2020 Onward With his brother Jeff Danna 2021 Stillwater The Addams Family 2 With his brother Jeff Danna 2022 Return to Space with Harry Gregson-Williams Where the Crawdads Sing My Father's Dragon With his brother Jeff Danna 2023 No Hard Feelings with Jessica Rose Weiss 2026 Flavia With his brother Jeff Danna TBA Gold Mountain