# Brian Keane

Brian Keane (born January 18, 1953) is an American composer, music producer, and guitarist. Keane has been described as "a musician's musician, a composer's composer, and one of the most talented producers of a generation" by Billboard magazine.
Keane grew up in Westport, Connecticut, and started his career as a guitarist, eventually touring and recording in a duo with Larry Coryell. Best known as a composer, Keane's first music score for a documentary came in 1980 with Against Wind and Tide: A Cuban Odyssey, which was nominated for an Academy Award. As the cable television business bloomed in the 1980s, Keane quickly became one of the foremost pioneers in documentary music scoring. By the 1990s The Hollywood Reporter respectfully called him "the John Williams of the documentary".
Keane has worked with every major network, and many multi award-winning filmmakers including Barry Levinson, Ric Burns, Susan Lacy, Henry Hampton, Stephen King, and Thomas Lennon, scoring some of the most memorable documentaries in television history such as the epic Burns history of New York in New York: A Documentary Film, the inspiring story of the 1980 Olympic hockey team in Do You Believe in Miracles? and The Battle Over Citizen Kane. Keane also pioneered a new approach to scoring sports programming with his innovative Emmy winning work for HBO and ESPN, and created the music for the groundbreaking ABC News Turning Point in the early days of prime-time documentaries. In addition, Brian has scored the music to several feature films, his music catalog is licensed by most major entertainment companies, and his music is performed all over the world.
It was a soundtrack release of his score to the 1987 documentary Süleyman the Magnificent that would launch Keane's career as a Grammy winning world music producer. That score revolutionized Middle Eastern music and launched the career of Omar Faruk Tekbilek. Keane would become a leading producer of world music in the 1980s and 1990s after that, working with artists as diverse as Linda Ronstadt, Pete Seeger, Joanie Madden, Taj Mahal, Michael Hedges, Buckwheat Zydeco, Yomo Toro, Cyrus Chestnut, David Darling, John Sebastian, Arlo Guthrie and The Clancy Brothers. Keane won a Grammy Award for his 1998 soundtrack Long Journey Home: The Irish in America with the Chieftains, Van Morrison, and Elvis Costello, among others. He has received several other Grammy nominations as well. Brian produced more than 150 records in his career, 37 of which were Billboard Top Ten charting.
With a career spanning well over 40 years, scoring over 700 film and television shows, garnering six Academy Awards, nine Peabody Awards, and over 70 Emmy Awards (18 of which won Emmys for Best Documentary or Series), as well as numerous other awards, Keane has received four Emmy Awards for music, and 20 Emmy nominations. He is the recipient of the New York Festivals TV & Film Awards Grand Award, and was inducted into the New England Music Hall of Fame in 2021.

## Early life

Keane was born January 18, 1953, in Philadelphia. His mother, Winifred Keane, ws an avant garde composer, and his father George F. Keane was a businessman. Keane had two siblings. Keane grew up in Westport, Connecticut, and played his first professional job as a rock n' roll musician in the sixth grade. He studied privately with the late jazz pianist and Juilliard educator John Mehegan, and then with Czech composer Karel Husa at both Ithaca College, and Cornell where he attended school.

## Professional career
### Guitarist

Keane began his professional career as a guitarist playing in clubs and as a sideman, and eventually became a jazz guitarist, touring worldwide and recording for several years in a guitar duo with Larry Coryell, and eventually becoming a Blue Note recording artist.

### Composer and record producer
#### 1980s

In the late 1970s, still making his living primarily as a guitarist, Keane met film directors Jim Burroughs and Suzanne Bauman, while working in his childhood friend Gary Scovil's recording studio in Norwalk, Connecticut. In 1981, Keane scored his first documentary for them, Against Wind and Tide: A Cuban Odyssey, which was nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary in 1982. That early success led to several more scoring opportunities for Keane in the 1980s, an era where few documentaries were scored with original music. Keane's prominence as a composer rose quickly, even as he continued to tour as a guitarist in a duo with Larry Coryell, and eventually as a solo artist with the release of his first solo CD Snowfalls in 1986. In 1987, Keane's score to the documentary Suleyman the Magnificent, was discovered by German publisher Eckart Rahn who heard the documentary on television, and decided to release a soundtrack CD of Keane's score on his Celestial Harmonies label. The record, among the first to harmonize traditional Middle Eastern music, would form the first of a series of collaborations with Middle Eastern musician Omer Faruk Tekbilek.
In 1989, Keane scored the music to Chimps: So Like Us, the HBO Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning documentary that helped introduce the public to naturalist Jane Goodall.

#### 1990s

The early 1990s saw Keane's composing career rise dramatically in stature with the multiple-award-winning General Motors' Playwright's Theatre series for Nederlander television, which ran for four years on A&E, the Emmy- and Columbia Dupont-winning miniseries The Great Depression and The War on Poverty for the prominent film maker Henry Hampton, the highly influential Ric Burns documentary The Donner Party which won a Peabody in 1992, and the Emmy- and Peabody-winning film The Battle of the Bulge, for Oscar-winning director Thomas Lennon.
In 1997, Keane started working with Hollywood agent Bruce Teitell, and scored several feature films including The Vernon Johns Story: Road to Freedom with James Earl Jones; Stephen King's The Night Flier for New Line Cinema, and Illtown for director Nick Gomez. He continued scoring documentaries as well, with the award-winning Burns mini series and Shanachie double CD soundtrack The Way West, Thomas Lennon's Oscar-nominated and Peabody Award-winning The Battle Over Citizen Kane, the award-winning PBS Nova series A Science Odyssey, and more award-winning American Experience documentaries for its new executive producer Margaret Drain. American Experience won Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Non-Fiction Series in both 1998 and 1999. Also in 1999, Brian scored the multiple Emmy-winning Ric Burns series New York: A Documentary Film which, after the World Trade Center attack of September 11, 2001, became among the biggest selling documentary series of its time.
In 1996, Keane was asked to score Spirit of the Games, a documentary on the Olympics by Emmy-winning director George Roy for HBO Sports. It began a long relationship with HBO Sports and a very successful run of sports documentaries including the Peabody-winning films Babe Ruth, Ali Frazier: One Nation Divisible, Dare to Compete and Fists of Freedom, which were part of a new series of documentaries entitled Sports of the 20th Century. Keane also scored HBO's Inside the NFL during that period.

#### 2000s

By the year 2000, Napster and other downloading entities were beginning to take over record distribution, and several long established record companies went out of business. In the space of just a year, the record producing business that Keane had enjoyed and accumulated over the previous decade and a half collapsed, along with most record companies. He was still among the most widely recognized composers for documentary film however, and by then, he had extended his notoriety to become a leading composer in the world of sports. In addition to continuing to score Emmy-winning documentaries like Ric Burns' Ansel Adams, Bill Moyers' Becoming American: The Chinese Experience collaborating with Chinese musician George Gao, and several more award-winning American Experience episodes for its new executive producer Mark Samels, Keane composed the music to many classic Emmy- and Peabody-winning HBO sports documentaries in the early 2000s. These included Do You Believe in Miracles, Legendary Nights, Picture Perfect, The Curse of the Bambino and Nine Innings From Ground Zero. He worked with producer Ross Greenburg, directors George Roy, Joe Lavine, and other Emmy-winning sports documentarians, and composed a number of Emmy-nominated and Peabody-winning films for ESPN as well such as Kentucky Bluegrass Basketball, The Complete Angler, You Write Better Than You Play, and David Halberstam's Teammates for directors Fritz Mitchell, Johnson McKelvey, Neil Leifer, and others. Brian also scored several documentary specials for CBS Sports including Pistol Pete, for which he won a music Emmy for his collaborative score with Cajun musician Buckwheat Zydeco.
In 2001, Keane became the first, and only composer in the history of the Emmys, to sweep all the Emmy nominations for music composition in a single year, and he won Emmys in 2002, 2003, and 2004 for music composition as well. In 2005, he had three more Emmy nominations for music composition, and scored all five Emmy nominated films for best sports documentary that year, including the best documentary Emmy-winning Rhythm in the Rope for ESPN. In 2006, Keane scored Thomas Lennon and Ruby Yang's The Blood of Yingzhou District, which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary: Short Subject. In addition, he scored the Emmy- and Peabody-winning Ric Burns' films Andy Warhol for American Masters and Eugene O'Neil for American Experience. In 2007, Brian received Emmy nominations for his scores to HBO's Barbaro, Mickey Mantle and Johnson McKelvey's Kabul Girls Club. In addition, Keane's compositions were being used in several major feature films, and being adapted for symphony orchestras throughout the world, including the London Symphony Orchestra, The Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, The Boston Pops Orchestra, and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.
Keane enjoyed a nonstop series of successes in the entertainment business for over two decades, but by 2008, the era of reality TV, digital media, and multi channel cable television was coming of age. The high end documentary was falling out of favor due to the expense of making them. A 2007 writer's strike crippled the film and television industry, budgets for live musicians were becoming a thing of the past, and the abundance of new cable channels meant smaller budgets and lower standards. Emmy judging was no longer monitored and, although he continued to score Emmy nominated films like Ric Burns' Into the Deep for American Experience, HBO's Joe Louis: A Hero Betrayed, and The Running Rebels of UNLV, as well as the 2011 Academy Award nominated documentary The Warrior of Quigang, Keane decided to work less.

#### 2010s

In 2012, after scoring Death and the Civil War, which won the Erik Barnauw Award and received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Non-Fiction Program, Keane got a call from Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson to score the BBC America television series Copper about an Irish policeman, set in 1864 New York. The Levinson Fontana produced series debuted as the highest rated series in the history of BBC America, and garnered Keane another Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Main Title Music. Copper was renewed for a second season in 2013, with the soundtrack, Copper: Original Soundtrack, released via Valley Entertainment.
Beginning in 2014, Keane returned to a "semi-retired" schedule. He launched his music library ScoreToPicture.com which was leased to several networks and movie studios. He continued scoring more Emmy award-winning shows for ESPN, including Fritz Mitchell's It's Time, which garnered Keane his 20th Emmy nomination for music, and worked on several other projects including the unusual festival film Enquiring Minds about the history of the National Enquirer, a commission to compose music for the 75th anniversary of the American Ballet Theatre, the joint BBC and PBS special of The Pilgrims, a world music symphony commission resulting in finishing his first symphony A Speck of Time (which was actually mostly written in 1984). He also produced an early music soundtrack to the 1922 Douglas Fairbanks Sr. silent film of Robin Hood, and composed the score to an important film about racism and American history called The Chinese Exclusion Act. In 2018 Keane returned to sports with the 12-hour series Saturdays in the South for ESPN, which won two New York Festival Gold awards. In 2019, he scored a debut feature documentary for the new Disney+ streaming service called One Day At Disney, and Very Ralph, a documentary biopic about Ralph Lauren, which won the New York Festival's Grand Award for its music score. Also in 2019, Brian scored the music to Oliver Sacks: His Own Life, which debuted to sellout crowds at the Telluride and New York Film Festivals in 2019, was the Audience Favorite Award-winner at the Hampton Film Festival and the Sarasota Film Festival, and went on to earn a "100% Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes from both audiences and critics alike.
Keane also returned to performing on guitar occasionally in 2017 following the death of his one time duo partner Larry Coryell, playing numerous tribute concerts at first, and eventually playing a wide variety of concerts, selling out Carnegie Hall in April 2018 with Omar Faruk Tekbilek, and touring internationally again, after almost 35 years, in 2019.

#### 2020s

In 2020, Keane helped make a film about his long-time friend and accomplished guitarist Charlie Karp. The documentary features a concert he produced in Charlie's honor, and is called Charlie and Us: The Charlie Karp Story. Keane also scored a critically hailed two-hour PBS special documentary by film maker Gretchen Sorin, working with Ric Burns, called Driving While Black. The film aired about the same time that Oliver Sacks: His Own Life was released, due to the Coronavirus delay, and both soundtracks were released by Valley Entertainment. In 2021, Brian was inducted into the New England Music Hall of Fame. In the same year, he scored a 3-hour documentary, Dante Alighieri and his Divine Comedy, for Italian broadcast, produced by Steeplechase Films.
In addition to performing some concerts, Keane continues to work on composing music with his long time engineer Jeff Frez-Albrecht, helping out promising musicians with their music, and occasionally making appearances as a guest lecturer for universities and film festivals. Many of Brian's former employees, interns, and students have gone on to substantial careers of their own.

## Personal life

Keane's studio is located in his first home in Monroe, CT which he bought in 1985, and converted into a recording studio in 1993. He married Susan St. Louis in 1987, who had a son, Chris Laskowski, born in 1971. They had their first son, Wylder, in 1987 and a second son, Dylan, in 1988. They lived at first in the studio they called "Little Big Feet Studios", after which the family moved to Newtown in 1994. Following his divorce in 2010, Keane commuted to the studio from Newtown for 15 years but eventually moved back in 2009. He has shared his home with actress, theatre producer and former high school classmate Bonnie Housner Erickson since 2015. Although he toured throughout the world in his early career as a guitarist, most of Keane's composing career has taken place at his studio in the woods of Connecticut, near friends that he has known for over sixty years in some cases. In an era where most television and film production took place in New York or Los Angeles, he was able to develop his substantial career simply through the notoriety and emotional power of his music.

## Award-winning / nominated films scored By Brian Keane

| Award | Description | Title | Status | Year |
| Academy Award | Best Documentary | Against Wind and Tide: A Cuban Odyssey (PBS) | Nomination | 1982 |
| Columbia Dupont Award | Journalism | Against Wind and Tide: A Cuban Odyssey (PBS) | Winner | 1982 |
| Golden Hugo Award | Chicago Film Festival | Cuba In the Shadow Of Doubt (PBS) | Winner | 1983 |
| Cine Golden Eagle | Best Documentary | Costa Rica: Child in the Wind (PBS) | Winner | 1984 |
| First Prize | San Francisco Film Festival | Women of Summer (PBS) | Winner | 1985 |
| First Prize | London Film Festival | Suleyman the Magnificent (PBS) | Winner | 1986 |
| Golden Athena | Athens Film Festival | Light of the Gods (PBS) | Winner | 1987 |
| Cine Golden Eagle | Documentary | Merchants and Masterpieces (PBS) | Winner | 1988 |
| Ace Award | - | Pool Hall (A&E) | Nomination | 1989 |
| Ace Award | - | 27 Wagons Full of Cotton (A&E) | Nomination | 1989 |
| Emmy Award | Best Documentary | Chimps: So Like Us (HBO) | Winner | 1990 |
| Academy Award | Best Documentary: Short Subject | Chimps: So Like Us (HBO) | Nomination | 1990 |
| Ace Award | - | Clara (A&E) | Nomination | 1990 |
| Ace Award | - | Last Act is a Solo (A&E) | Winner | 1990 |
| Columbia Dupont Award | Best Cultural/Artistic Programming | Coney Island (PBS) | Winner | 1991 |
| Ace Award | - | Avenue Z Afternoon (A&E) | Nomination | 1991 |
| Erik Barnauw Award | Outstanding Historical Documentary | Coney Island (PBS) | Winner | 1992 |
| Ace Award | - | Paralax Gardens (A&E) | Nomination | 1992 |
| Peabody Award | - | The Donner Party (PBS) | Winner | 1992 |
| Columbia Dupont Award | Best Historical Programming | The Great Depression (PBS) | Winner | 1993 |
| Emmy Award | Best Historical Programming | The Great Depression (PBS) | Winner | 1993 |
| Emmy Award | Best scientific Programming | National Geographic Explorer (TBS) | Winner | 1994 |
| Columbia Dupont Award | Best Historical Programming | America's War On Poverty (PBS) | Winner | 1994 |
| Columbia Dupont Award | Best News Documentary Series | Turning Point (ABC) | Winner | 1995 |
| Columbia Dupont Award | Best Historical Mini Series | The Way West (PBS) | Winner | 1995 |
| Columbia Dupont Award | Best Historical Programming | Battle of the Bulge (PBS) | Winner | 1995 |
| Emmy Award | Best Historical Programming | Battle of the Bulge (PBS) | Nomination | 1995 |
| Peadbody Award | - | Battle of the Bulge (PBS) | Winner | 1995 |
| Columbia Dupont Award | Best Scientific Programming | Buckminster Fuller (PBS) | Winner | 1996 |
| Emmy Award | Best Scientific Programming | Buckminster Fuller (PBS) | Nomination | 1996 |
| Emmy Award | Best Cultural or Artistic Programming | The Battle Over Citizen Kane (PBS) | Winner | 1996 |
| Academy Award | Best Documentary | The Battle Over Citizen Kane (PBS) | Nomination | 1996 |
| Columbia Dupont Award | Best Cultural or Artistic Programming | The Battle Over Citizen Kane (PBS) | Winner | 1996 |
| Peabody Award | - | The Battle Over Citizen Kane (PBS) | Winner | 1996 |
| Columbia Dupont Award | Best Historical Programming | Murder of the Century (PBS) | Winner | 1996 |
| Ace Award | - | Spirit of the Games (HBO) | Winner | 1996 |
| Columbia Dupont Award | Best Documentary Series | Turning Point (ABC) | Winner | 1996 |
| Erik Barnauw Award | Outstanding Historical Documentary | America's War on Poverty (PBS) | Winner | 1996 |
| Ace Award | - | Inside The NFL (HBO) | Winner | 1997 |
| Columbia Dupont Award | Best Historical Programming | New York Underground (PBS) | Winner | 1997 |
| Fangoria Awards | - | Stephen King's Night Flier (New Line) | Winner | 1998 |
| Ace Awards | - | Inside The NFL (HBO) | Winner | 1998 |
| Emmy Award | Best Historical Programming | Long Journey Home (Disney/PBS) | Nomination | 1998 |
| Columbia Dupont Award | Best Scientific Series | A Science Odyssey (PBS) | Winner | 1998 |
| Sundance Film Festival | Jury Award | Illtown (Shooting Gallery) | Winner | 1998 |
| Emmy Award | Best Music Composition | Babe Ruth (HBO) | Nomination | 1998 |
| Peabody Award | - | Babe Ruth (HBO) | Winner | 1998 |
| Emmy Award | Outstanding non-fiction series | American Experience (PBS) | Winner | 1998 |
| Peabody Award | - | Dare To Compete (HBO) | Winner | 1999 |
| Peabody Awards | - | Fists of Freedom (HBO) | Winner | 1999 |
| Emmy Award | Outstanding non-fiction series | American Experience (PBS) | Winner | 1999 |
| Emmy Award | Best Sports Documentary | Fists of Freedom (HBO) | Winner | 1999 |
| Emmy Award | Best Music Composition | Bill Russell (HBO) | Nomination | 2000 |
| Emmy Award | Best Sports Documentary | When It Was A Game (HBO) | Winner | 2000 |
| Peadbody Award | - | Ali/Frazier (HBO) | Winner | 2000 |
| Emmy Award | Best Sports Documentary | Ali/Frazier (HBO) | nomination | 2000 |
| Emmy Award | Outstanding Achievement in Non - fiction Programming | New York: A Documentary Film (PBS) | Winner | 2000 |
| Emmy Award | Best Documentary | Do You Believe In Miracles? (HBO) | Winner | 2001 |
| Emmy Award | Best Music Composition | Do You Believe In Miracles? (HBO) | Nomination | 2001 |
| Emmy Award | Best Music Composition | Pistol Pete (CBS) | Winner | 2001 |
| Emmy Award | Best Music Composition | Shot Heard 'Round The World (HBO) | Nomination | 2001 |
| Columbia Dupont Award | Best Historical Programming | New York: A Documentary Film (PBS) | Winner | 2002 |
| Emmy Award | Best Music Composition | Picture Perfect (HBO) | Winner | 2002 |
| Emmy Award | Best Sports Documentary | The Bear (CBS) | Nomination | 2002 |
| Emmy Award | Outstanding Cultural and Artistic Programming | Ansel Adams (PBS) | Winner | 2002 |
| Emmy Award | Best Sports Documentary | Life Behind the Lens (ESPN) | Nomination | 2003 |
| Peadbody Award | - | The Complete Angler (ESPN) | Winner | 2003 |
| Emmy Award | Best Music Composition | Bluegrass Basketball (ESPN) | Nomination | 2003 |
| Emmy Award | Best sports Documentary | Bluegrass Basketball (ESPN) | Nomination | 2003 |
| Emmy Award | Best sports Documentary | The Teammates (ESPN) | Nomination | 2003 |
| Emmy Award | Best Music Composition | The Teammates (ESPN) | Nomination | 2003 |
| Emmy | Best Music and Sound | New York: The Center of the World (PBS) | Nomination | 2003 |
| Emmy Award | Best Historical Programming:Long Form | New York: The Center of the World (PBS) | Winner | 2003 |
| Emmy Award | Best Music Composition | Jim McKay: My World in My Words (HBO) | Nomination | 2003 |
| Emmy Award | Best Edited Sports Series | Legendary Nights (HBO) | Winner | 2003 |
| Emmy Award | Best Documentary | Curse of the Bambino (HBO) | Winner | 2003 |
| Emmy Award | Best Music Composition | Curse of the Bambino (HBO) | Winner | 2003 |
| Emmy Award | Best sports Documentary | Jim McKay: My World in My Words (HBO) | Nomination | 2003 |
| Emmy Award | Best Sports Entertainment Program | On the Record (HBO) | Winner | 2004 |
| Emmy Award | Best Documentary Mini Series | NYPD 24/7 (ABC) | Nomination | 2004 |
| Emmy Award | Best Documentary | Hitler's Pawn (HBO) | Nomination | 2004 |
| Emmy Award | Best Music Composition | Hitler's Pawn (HBO) | Nomination | 2004 |
| Emmy Award | Best Sports Documentary | Sports Illustrated 50 Years (ESPN) | Nomination | 2004 |
| Emmy Award | Best Sports Documentary | Nine Inning From Ground Zero (HBO) | Nomination | 2004 |
| Emmy Award | Best Music Composition | Nine Innings From Ground Zero (HBO) | Winner | 2004 |
| Emmy Award | Best Non Fiction Mini Series | Becoming American: The Chinese Experience (PBS) | Nomination | 2004 |
| Emmy Award | Historical programming: Long Form | Becoming American : Gold Mountain Dreams (PBS) | Nomination | 2004 |
| Emmy Award | Historical programming: Long Form | Becoming American : Between Two Worlds (PBS) | Nomination | 2004 |
| Emmy Award | Historical programming: Long Form | Becoming American : No Turning Back (PBS) | Nomination | 2004 |
| Emmy Award | Best Sports Documentary | Mickey Mantle (HBO) | Nomination | 2005 |
| Emmy Award | Best Music Composition | Mickey Mantle (HBO) | Nomination | 2005 |
| Emmy Award | Best Sports Documentary | The Perfect Upset (HBO) | Nomination | 2005 |
| Emmy Award | Best Sports Documentary | You Write Better Than You Play (ESPN) | Nomination | 2005 |
| Emmy Award | Best Music Composition | You Write Better Than You Play (ESPN) | Nomination | 2005 |
| Emmy Award | Best Sports Documentary | Dare To Dream (HBO) | Nomination | 2005 |
| Emmy Award | Best Sports Documentary | Rhythm in the Rope (ESPN) | Winner | 2005 |
| Emmy Award | Best Music Composition | Rhythm in the Rope (ESPN) | Nomination | 2005 |
| Academy Award | Best Documentary: Short Subject | Blood of Yingzhou District (HBO) | Winner | 2006 |
| Emmy Award | Outstanding Cultural and Artistic Programming | Eugene O'Neill (PBS) | Winner | 2006 |
| IDA Award | Best Series | The Supreme Court (PBS) | Winner | 2006 |
| Peabody Award | - | Andy Warhol (PBS) | Winner | 2006 |
| Emmy Award | Outstanding Cultural and Artistic Programming | Andy Warhol (PBS) | Winner | 2006 |
| Cine Golden Eagle | Best Music Composition | America's Lost Landscape: The Tall Grass Prairie (PBS) | Winner | 2006 |
| Cine Golden Eagle | Best Documentary | America's Lost Landscape: The Tall Grass Prairie (PBS) | Winner | 2006 |
| Emmy Award | Best Music Composition | Barbaro (HBO) | Nomination | 2007 |
| Emmy Award | Best Music Composition | Kabul Girls Club (ESPN) | Nomination | 2007 |
| Emmy Award | Best Sports Documentary | Wait Till Next Year (HBO) | Nomination | 2007 |
| Emmy Award | Best Documentary | Joe Louis: America's Hero Betrayed (HBO) | Nomination | 2008 |
| Emmy Award | Best Non Fiction Program | Into the Deep (PBS) | Nomination | 2010 |
| Academy Award | Best Documentary - Short Subject | The Warrior of Qiugang (Theatrical) | Nomination | 2011 |
| Emmy Award | Best Documentary | Running Rebels Of UNLV | Nomination | 2012 |
| Erik Barnauw Award | Outstanding Historical Documentary | Death and the Civil War (PBS) | Winner | 2013 |
| Emmy Award | Best Documentary | Death and the Civil War (PBS) | Nomination | 2013 |
| Emmy Award | Best Music Composition | Copper - Main Titles (BBC America) | Nomination | 2013 |
| Emmy Award | Best Music Composition | It's Time (SEC /ESPN) | Nomination | 2015 |
| Emmy Award | Best Sports Documentary | It's Time (SEC /ESPN) | Nomination | 2015 |
| Emmy Award | Best Sports Documentary | 30 For 30 (ESPN) | Winner | 2015 |
| New York Festival Awards | Grand Award - Music | Very Ralph (HBO) | Winner | 2020 |
| New York Festival Awards | Gold Award - Music | Very Ralph (HBO) | Winner | 2020 |
| New York Festival Awards | Gold Award - Documentary: History & Society | Saturdays In The South (ESPN) | Winner | 2020 |
| New York Festival Awards | Gold Award - Sports Documentary | Saturdays In The South (ESPN) | Winner | 2020 |

## Emmy Awards (composer)

| Award Type | Status | Work | Year | Role |
| Emmy, Best Music Composition | Nominated | Babe Ruth (HBO) | 1998 | Composer |
| Emmy, Best Music Composition | Nominated | Bill Russell (HBO) | 2000 | Composer |
| Emmy, Best Music Composition | Nominated | Do You Believe In Miracles? (HBO) | 2001 | Composer |
| Emmy, Best Music Composition | Winner | Pistol Pete (CBS) | 2001 | Composer |
| Emmy, Best Music Composition | Nominated | Shot Heard 'Round The World (HBO) | 2001 | Composer |
| Emmy, Best Music Composition | Winner | Picture Perfect (HBO) | 2002 | Composer |
| Emmy, Best Music Composition | Nominated | Bluegrass Basketball (ESPN) | 2003 | Composer |
| Emmy, Best Music Composition | Nominated | The Teammates (ESPN) | 2003 | Composer |
| Emmy, Best Music and Sound | Nominated | New York The Center of the World (PBS) | 2003 | Composer |
| Emmy, Best Music Composition | Nominated | Jim McKay: My World in My Words (HBO) | 2003 | Composer |
| Emmy, Best Music Composition | Winner | Curse of the Bambino (HBO) | 2003 | Composer |
| Emmy, Best Music Composition | Nominated | Hitler's Pawn (HBO) | 2004 | Composer |
| Emmy, Best Music Composition | Winner | Nine Innings From Ground Zero (HBO) | 2004 | Composer |
| Emmy, Best Music Composition | Nominated | Rhythm in the Rope (ESPN) | 2005 | Composer |
| Emmy, Best Music Composition | Nominated | You Write Better Than You Play (ESPN) | 2005 | Composer |
| Emmy, Best Music Composition | Nominated | Mickey Mantle (HBO) | 2005 | Composer |
| Emmy, Best Music Composition | Nominated | Girl's Club of Kabul (ESPN) | 2007 | Composer |
| Emmy, Best Music Composition | Nominated | Barbaro (HBO) | 2007 | Composer |
| Emmy, Best Music Composition | Nominated | Copper - Main Titles (BBC America) | 2013 | Composer |
| Emmy, Best Music Composition | Nominated | It's Time (SEC /ESPN) | 2013 | Composer |

## Grammy Awards (music producer)

| Award Type | Status | Work | Year | Role |
| Grammy Awards, Best Folk or Traditional Album | Nominated | Fire Dance (Celestial Harmonies) | 1990 | Composer/Producer |
| Grammy Awards, Best Folk or Traditional Album | Nominated | Beyond The Sky (Celestial Harmonies) | 1992 | Composer/Producer |
| Grammy Awards, Best Comedy Album | Nominated | "You're Good Enough..." (BMG /Bantam Audio) | 1992 | Composer/Producer |
| Grammy Awards, Best Folk or Traditional Album | Winner | Long Journey Home Soundtrack (RCA) | 1998 | Composer/Producer |

## Soundtrack releases

| Year | Title | Label | Notes |
| 1987 | Suleyman The Magnificent | Celestial Harmonies | Billboard Charting |
| 1992 | You're Good Enough... | BMG /Bantam Audio | Grammy Nominee |
| 1995 | The Way West | Shanachie | Indie Award |
| 1998 | Long Journey Home: The Irish In America | RCA | Grammy Winner, Billboard Charting |
| 1998 | Stephen Kings: The Night Flier | RCA | Fangoria Award |
| 1999 | New York | RCA | Billboard Charting |
| 2002 | Ansel Adams | Green Linnet | Billboard Charting |
| 2005 | The War That Made America | Valley Entertainment |
| 2006 | Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film | Valley Entertainment |
| 2009 | Kelebek | Celestial Harmonies |
| 2011 | Into The Deep | Valley Entertainment |
| 2012 | Death And The Civil War | Valley Entertainment |
| 2013 | Copper: Original Soundtrack | Valley Entertainment |
| 2020 | Oliver Sacks: His Own Life | Valley Entertainment |
| 2020 | Driving While Black: Original Soundtrack | Valley Entertainment |

## Select discography (music producer)

| Year | Title | Record Label | Notes | Artists |
| 1982 | At The Airport | WEA | - | Larry Coryell, Brian Keane |
| 1983 | Just Like Being Born | Flying Fish | - | Larry Coryell, Brian Keane |
| 1986 | Snowfalls | Flying Fish | Billboard Top 20 New Age Charts | Brian Keane |
| 1988 | Boléro | Evidence | - | Larry Coryell, Brian Keane |
| 1989 | Tibetan Bells 3: The Empty Mirror | Celestial Harmonies | Top 20 Billboard New Age Charts | Henry Wolff, Nancy Hennings |
| 1990 | Fire Dance | Celestial Harmonies | Grammy Nominated, Top 20 Billboard New Age Charts | Brian Keane, Omar Faruk Tekbilek |
| 1991 | Yamantaka | Celestial Harmonies | - | Mickey Hart, Henry Wolff, Nancy Hennings |
| 1991 | Nelson Rangell | GRP | Billboard Top 20 Contemporary Jazz Charts | Nelson Rangell |
| 1992 | Mariachi Cobre | Celestial Harmonies | Top 20 Billboard World Charts | Mariachi Cobre |
| 1992 | Beyond The Sky | Celestial Harmonies | Grammy Nominated, Echoes "Record Of The Year", Top 20 Billboard New Age Charts | Brian Keane, Omar Faruk Tekbilek |
| 1992 | Common Planet | Blue Note | Billboard Top 20 Contemporary Jazz Charts | Brian Keane |
| 1992 | Festival Of The Heart | Hearts of Space Records | Billboard Top 20 New Age Charts | John Boswell |
| 1993 | Count Me In | Hearts of Space Records | Billboard Top 20 New Age Charts | John Boswell |
| 1993 | Khenany | Celestial Harmonies | - | Khenany |
| 1994 | Whirling | Celestial Harmonies | Top 20 Billboard New Age Charts | Omar Faruk Tekbilek |
| 1994 | Celtic Twilight | Hearts of Space Records | Billboard's "New Age Album Of The Year", #1 Billboard New Age Charts | Various |
| 1995 | VIa Jo | Triloka/Polygram | #1 On World Music Charts In Europe | Vieux Diop |
| 1995 | Este Es Mi Mariachi | Celestial Harmonies /Kuckuck | Top 20 Billboard World Charts | Linda Ronstadt, Mariachi Cobre |
| 1995 | Song Of The Irish Whistle | Hearts O' Space | Billboard Top 10 New Age Charts | Joanie Madden |
| 1995 | Celtic Twilight 2 | Hearts O' Space | Billboard Top 10 New Age Charts | Nightnoise, Bill Douglas, John Doan, Alasdair Fraser & Paul Machlis, Kevin Braheny & Tim Clark, Steve McDonald, Mychael Danna, Joanie Madden, Loreena McKennitt, Talitha MacKenzie |
| 1996 | Closer To Far Away | Windham Hill | Billboard Top 20 New Age Charts | Douglass Spotted Eagle |
| 1996 | Mystical Garden | Celestial Harmonies | Top 20 Billboard World Charts | Omar Faruk Tekbilek |
| 1996 | Carols Of Christmas | Windham Hill/BMG | Billboard #1 On New Age Charts | George Winston, Michael Hedges, Steve Morse, David Darling, Ray Lynch, Richard Stoltzman, Marion Meadows, Jim Brickman, Manuel Barrueco |
| 1997 | Summer Solstice | Windham Hill/BMG | Billboard Top 10 New Age Charts For 4 Months | George Winston, Michael Hedges, William Ackerman, Liz Story, Keola Beamer, Sean Harkness |
| 1997 | Celtic Twilight 4: Celtic Planet | Hearts O' Space | Billboard Top 10 New Age Charts | Davy Spillane, Bill Douglas, Carlos Núñez, John Doan, Mychael Danna, Joanie Madden, Anúna, Aoife Ní Fhearraigh |
| 1997 | Winters Solstice VI | Windham Hill/BMG | Billboard #1 New Age Charts | George Winston, Michael Hedges |
| 1997 | Crescent Moon | Celestial Harmonies | - | Omar Faruk Tekbilek |
| 1997 | Conversations with God | Windham Hill | Billboard #1 New Age Charts | Ray Lynch, Gabrielle Roth and The Mirror, Jim Brickman, David Arkenstone, Yanni, Shadowfax, Patrick O'Hearn, Mark Isham |
| 1998 | Long Journey Home | Unisphere/RCA Victor/BMG | Grammy Award Winner: Best Folk / Traditional Album. Billboard Top 10 World Music Charts | Various, The Chieftains, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Sinéad O'Connor, Mary Black, Sissel Kyrkjebø, Vince Gill, |
| 1998 | Threads of Time | RCA | Top 20 Billboard World Charts | Cherish the Ladies |
| 1998 | The Renaissance Album | Windham Hill/BMG | - | Various, Nancy Wilson, Ann Wilson, The Baltimore Consort, Angels of Venice, John Doan |
| 1998 | Summer Solstice 2 | Windham Hill/BMG | Billboard Top 10 New Age Charts | Buckwheat Zydeco, Taj Mahal, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Tuck & Patti, Earl Klugh, W.G. Snuffy Walden, |
| 1998 | Thanksgiving | Windham Hill/BMG | Billboard Top 10 New Age Charts | Paul Winter, George Winston, Carlos Nakai, Paul McCandless, Michael Manring, Philip Aaberg, John Sebastian |
| 1998 | Song Of The Irish Whistle 2 | Hearts O' Space | Billboard Top 10 New Age Charts | Joanie Madden |
| 1998 | Sanctuary | Windham Hill | Billboard Top 10 New Age Charts | Jim Brickman, William Ackerman, Tracy Silverman, Michael Hedges, Michael Manring, Liz Story, Alex De Grassi, William Edward Childs, Douglas Spotted Eagle, Metamora |
| 1999 | Here There Everywhere | Windham Hill | Billboard Top 10 New Age Charts | W. G. Snuffy Walden, Tuck & Patti, Wayne Johnson, Liz Story, Michael Hedges, George Winston, Doyle Dykes, Angels of Venice |
| 1999 | Winter Solstice On Ice | Windham Hill | Billboard #1 New Age Charts | W. G. Snuffy Walden, Peabo Bryson, Mark Snow, Jim Brickman, George Winston, Janis Ian, Michael Hedges, Roberta Flack, Jeffrey Osborne, The Rippingtons, Yani, Mark Isham |
| 1999 | Song Of The Hills | Shanachie | - | John Sebastian, Bill Keith, Jay Ungar, Eric Weissberg, Norman Blake, Tony Trischka |
| 1999 | Crossing The Bridge | Sony | Billboard Top 10 On The World Music Charts | Eileen Ivers, Al Di Meola, Steve Gadd, Randy Brecker, Bakithi Kumalo, Séamus Egan, |
| 1999 | Sundance Summer Solstice | Windham Hill/BMG | Billboard Top 10 New Age Charts | George Winston, Will Ackerman, Jim Brickman, Jay Beckenstein, Angels of Venice, Phil Aaeberg, Paul McCandless, Michael Nanring, David Arkenstone |
| 1999 | Celtic Twilight 5 | Hearts O' Space | Billboard Top 10 New Age Charts | Méav Ní Mhaolchatha, Bill Douglas, Jeff Danna, John Doan, Mychael Danna, Joanie Madden, Jeff Johnson |
| 1999 | At Home | RCA | Billboard Top 10 World Charts | Cherish The Ladies |
| 2000 | Afrika Wassa | Sony/Triloka | Top 20 Billboard World Charts | Vieux Diop |
| 2000 | The Girls Won't Leave The Boys Alone | RCA | Top 20 Billboard World Charts | Cherish the Ladies, Pete Seeger, Liam Clancy, Arlo Guthrie |