Hans Zimmer to receive Outstanding Contribution award at 2013 Classic BRITs

14 August 2013, 00:01 | Updated: 2 October 2013, 15:54

Film music composer Hans Zimmer has been announced as the winner of this year's Outstanding Contribution to Music award at the 2013 Classic BRIT Awards.

The award will be presented on October 2nd at the Classic Brit Awards, to be held at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Zimmer's prolific output over the last 30 years has included iconic soundtracks for Gladiator, The Dark Knight, Inception and The Lion King. He has previously been the recipient of an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, four Grammys and a Classic BRIT.

Co-chairmen of the Classic BRIT Awards committee Dickon Stainer and Barry McCann commented: "We are absolutely delighted to be honouring the outstanding talent of Hans Zimmer with this award. Hans Zimmer’s recent work including Inception has been a dominant force for classical music specifically in the digital download era."

They continued: "It is only appropriate that four years on from his 2009 win for Soundtrack of the Year for The Dark Knight he should receive the Outstanding Contribution to Music at this year’s ceremony."

Last year's winner of the Outstanding Contribution award, John Williams, was honoured at the Classic BRITs with an epic musical tribute with an orchestra-accompanied series of excerpts from films containing his music.

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The award was presented to the composer at the Classic Brit Awards by legendary British actor Sir Michael Caine, who plays Alfred the butler in The Dark Knight - which featured one of Zimmer's most acclaimed film scores.

"This year's Classic BRIT Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music couldn't have gone to a more deserving artist. Hans Zimmer is a uniquely talented composer and musician," said Sir Michael. 

"Hans says there isn't a day when he wakes up and doesn't want to do something with music. Having worked on some of the films he's scored, I can honestly say, long may that continue," he said.

"Believe me, it's simply impossible to over state just how integral a great score is to any successful movie and in Hans Zimmer we have one of the world's best ever exponents of the art," said Sir Michael.

In addition to The Dark Knight, the composer's prolific output over the last 30 years has included iconic soundtracks for GladiatorInception and The Lion King. He has previously been the recipient of an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, four Grammys and a Classic BRIT.

Receiving his award, Zimmer told the audience, "   "

Co-chairmen of the Classic BRIT Awards committee Dickon Stainer and Barry McCann commented: "We are absolutely delighted to be honouring the outstanding talent of Hans Zimmer with this award. Hans Zimmer’s recent work including Inception has been a dominant force for classical music specifically in the digital download era."

They continued: "It is only appropriate that four years on from his 2009 win for Soundtrack of the Year for The Dark Knight he should receive the Outstanding Contribution to Music at this year’s ceremony."

Zimmer was further honoured at the Classic BRITs with an epic musical tribute with an orchestra-accompanied series of excerpts from films containing his music. The composer sat at the piano for the climax, featuring music from...

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