Cerermony - 39th annual BMI film, tv and visual media awards  : Composer Christopher Lennertz  named a BMI icon 

By Mulder, 12 may 2023

BMI named composer Christopher Lennertz a BMI Icon at the 39th Annual BMI Film, TV and Visual Media Awards on May 10th in Beverly Hills, CA. The GRAMMY award-winning and two-time Emmy nominated composer received BMI’s highest honor for his significant contributions to the music community and exceptional body of work across film, television and gaming. In addition, the ceremony celebrated the composers of the previous year’s top-grossing films, top-rated primetime network television series and highest-ranking cable and streamed media programs. The evening was hosted by BMI President and CEO Mike O’Neill and BMI Vice President, Creative, Film, TV & Visual Media, Tracy McKnight. In receiving this honor, Lennertz now joins a prestigious list of BMI Icon Award recipients including Terence Blanchard, Alexandre Desplat, James Newton Howard, Alan Silvestri, Brian Tyler and John Williams, among others. 

A BMI composer since 1994, Lennertz recalled during his acceptance speech that he watched John Williams win the same award at his first BMI Awards, never imagining he would one day win the same award. To end the night, Lennertz shared his life goal: “to inspire with love to help others access joy.” Composers, songwriters, filmmakers, and creative executives including Alan Menken, Eric Kripke, Tim Story, Dave Jordan, Julia Michaels, Dara Taylor, and others shared memories of Lennertz and offered their congratulations.  

In addition to collaborating with some of the industry’s most legendary artists and directors, Lennertz has won a GRAMMY for the album Street Signs, two Emmy nominations for The Boys and Supernatural, and twenty BMI awards. Furthermore, his passion for education and philanthropy plays a major part in his life serving on the board of Education Through Music-Los Angeles and Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, as well as Hands Together Haiti. Lennertz also launched the Symphony of Hope project, a collaboration of more than twenty-five leading film and TV composers and dozens of award-winning musicians and vocalists joining together to rally the film music community in support of Haiti following the 2010 earthquake. 

In addition to receiving the BMI Icon Award, Lennertz was awarded a BMI Award for his work on The Boys. Atli Örvarsson was the most awarded composer, receiving six awards. Other award winners included Ludwig Göransson, Harry Gregson Williams, Mychael Danna, Mike Post, Rob Simonsen, Brian Tyler, Tony Morales, Pierre Charles, Nami Melumad, Kevin Kiner, Sean Kiner, Dean Kiner, Atticus Ross, Tyler Bates, Clint Mansell, and more. Click here to see the full list of winners. 

Christopher Lennertz has written music for some of the world’s greatest storytellers and has delved into almost every genre imaginable. His eclectic body of work includes scoring blockbusters like Bad Moms, Horrible Bosses, Ride Along and Sausage Party, as well as various TV shows like Amazon’s hit series The Boys, the cult favorite Supernatural, Netflix’s Lost in Space and Marvel’s Agent Carter, among others. Lennertz is also one of the most in demand composers in video games with hits including Medal of Honor, James Bond, The Godfather and the Mass Effect series. Some of his recent works include arranging and conducting a large orchestra for a new version of Guns N’ Roses “November Rain,” composing the score for the Netflix’s coming-of-age drama 13: The Musical and producing, arranging and conducting Wondrous Journeys, Disney’s new salute to 100 years of animation. He’s also written songs with Glenn Slater for Kelly Clarkson, Janelle Monae and Lizzo. Coming up, Lennertz’s work on Marvel’s Rogers the Musical will come to life during the Disney100 celebration at the Disney California Adventure Park. 

(Source : press release)