Nathan Wang is one of the most successful composers in Hollywood and Asian cinema. Prolific and versatile, he has written music for Jackie Chan movies, Steven Spielberg documentaries, animated cartoons, opera, symphonies and more. A Fulbright scholar, Wang's musical journey began with classical music, when he started playing piano at age 3 with his mother's encouragement. His father soon introduced him to jazz artists, and after studying music composition with the Oxford Symphony Orchestra, he played piano aboard a cruise ship for free in exchange for two tours of the Mediterranean. After returning home to Los Angeles, the young pianist began playing at a bar in a popular five-star restaurant, where one of his fans turned out to be a producer for the TV show "China Beach." Doors opened, and Wang eventually became a composer for that show before moving on to write for "Eek! The Cat" on Fox, then several Disney shows, DreamWorks Animation, and several Spielberg projects. A collaboration with Hans Zimmer on the music for "The Last Days" won an Academy Award for best documentary in 1999. Over the years, Wang has received seven Dramalogue Awards for best music and sound, and last summer penned the musical "Imelda," based on the life of former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos, which had a limited run at the David Henry Hwang Theater in Los Angeles. Along the way, he also began writing music for Asian movies and recording artists like Faye Wong (considered the Asian Madonna), winning the Singapore Grammy for his arrangement of her hit song "I'm Willing."
