Gary Chang

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Gary Chang (born February 22, 1953) is an American composer and musician known for his work on film and television scores. He grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and studied at Carnegie Mellon University and the California Institute of the Arts, where he learned electronic music from Morton Subotnick. Chang worked as a session musician and synthesizer programmer for artists such as Al Jarreau, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Robbie Robertson, and Weather Report.

Chang began his film-scoring career in the mid-1980s. His first scoring credit was for The Breakfast Club (1985), where he contributed and performed the track “Dream Montage.” In 1986, he scored 52 Pick-Up, which helped launch his solo scoring career. He later collaborated with director John Frankenheimer on Dead Bang (1989) and The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996). He often works with director Craig R. Baxley, including projects with Stephen King.

His other notable film scores include Miami Blues, Under Siege (which earned him a BMI Award), Sniper, The Substitute, and Double Team. Chang is also an associate professor of music composition for the screen at Columbia College Chicago.

Selected filmography

Film
- The Breakfast Club (1985) – additional music
- Firewalker (1986)
- 52 Pick-Up (1986)
- Sticky Fingers (1988)
- Dead Bang (1989)
- A Shock to the System (1990)
- Miami Blues (1990)
- Death Warrant (1990)
- The Perfect Weapon (1991)
- Under Siege (1992)
- Sniper (1993)
- The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)
- Bad Day on the Block (1996)
- Double Team (1997)
- A Soldier’s Sweetheart (1998)
- Sniper 2 (2002)
- Left Behind: World at War (2005)

Television
- Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Wojas Smart Story (1991)
- Eerie, Indiana (1991)
- Murder Live! (1997)
- Storm of the Century (1999)
- Rose Red (2002)
- Kingdom Hospital (2004)