Born in Providence, Rhode Island on April 13, 1942, Conti began studying piano at age seven under the guidance of his father, an accomplished pianist, sculptor and painter.

At the age of 15, he organized a band and began to play for high school dances in Miami, Florida.

He was a member of his high school band and symphony orchestra and won the "Silver Knight Award" from the Miami Herald for high achievement in the field of music.

Conti received his Bachelor of Music degree with a bassoon scholarship from Louisiana State University where he majored in composition.

After he graduated he auditioned and was accepted at the Juilliard School of Music in New York.

He received a Bachelor of Music degree from Juilliard, followed by a Master's Degree.

In 1981, he wrote the music for the James Bond film, For Your Eyes Only.

He provided the score for playwright Jason Miller's film version of his Pulitzer Prize winning play That Championship Season.

In 1983, he composed the score for HBO's first film, The Terry Fox Story.

Bill Conti composed music for the film Bad Boys, the TV series North and South and composed the score for The Thomas Crown Affair.

He Composed the themes to television's Dynasty, Falcon Crest, Cagney & Lacey, and The Lifestyles of The Rich And Famous.

In addition he composed the score to the studio altered American version of Luc Besson's The Big Blue.

Conti also composed the theme song to American Gladiators.

Bill Conti has acted as orchestral director for the Academy Awards show for fourteen years.

He has composed and arranged music for the Olympics and for more than 50 television shows, including ABC's Good Morning America, Dynasty, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, Inside Edition and many others.

He has arranged and conducted music for more than 40 orchestras, both national and international.

Bill Conti has scored music for over 100 films, including the Oscar-winning film Rocky, The Karate Kid movies, James Bond: For Your Eyes Only, Private Benjamin, The Adventures of Huck Finn, and most recently, The Godfather, Rocky Balboa: The Game, and The Thomas Crown Affair.

Oscar and Emmy Award-winner Bill Conti is one of Hollywood's most sought-after composers and conductors for both film and television.

He won Outstanding Music Direction for the 70th and 75th Academy Awards and Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Direction for the 64th Annual Academy Awards.

He won an Oscar for his work on The Right Stuff. On November 10, 1989, he was recognized with

a star bearing his name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 1995 the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) awarded Conti the Golden Soundtrack Award for lifetime achievement in film and television.

Conti received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song for "Gonna Fly Now," the powerful anthem from the 1976 Academy Award-winning Best Picture Rocky.

-Bill Conti

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