Barbra's former conductor and musical collaborator
Marvin Hamlisch is one of the most award-winning musical
composers to have been associated with Barbra Streisand's
equally impressive career. In summing up his accomplishments,
Barbra said it best during the 1994 tour of "The Concert":
"He's won Academy Awards, Grammy's, Tony's and the Pulitzer
Prize for "A Chorus Line"...so he doesn't need this job."
But of course,
there were to be three other jobs Barbra would later give Marvin
Hamlisch. He was selected to adapt the music for Barbra's
film, "The Mirror Has Two Faces" in 1996. He was called back
again, this time as a friend, to be Barbra's personal music
conductor/arranger during her private wedding ceremony to James
Brolin in 1998. And finally, Barbra chose Marvin as the
conductor and arranger for her next tour, "Timeless" in Las
Vegas and Australia, 2000.
Hamlisch, of
course, is best known as the composer, along with Alan and
Marilyn Bergman of the quintessential Streisand anthem of the
1970s, "The Way We Were" picking up an Oscar along the way.
Today, Marvin
Hamlisch can be found on his own tour, performing in various
concerts, one of which is entitled, fittingly,
"The Music
of Barbra Streisand." He also serves as the principal pops
conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC.
He is also one
of the more prominent graduates of the Julliard School of Music.
And in his own words:
“Music can
make a difference. There is a global nature to music, which has
the potential to bring all people together. Music is truly an
international language, and I hope to contribute by expanding
this communication as much as I can.”