L.A. Studio Legends #12: Stephen Erdody

The Legacy of John Williams Podcast

Cellist extraordinaire talks his distinguished career as a studio musician in Hollywood and his many collaborations with John Williams, including his exquisite solo playing for such scores as Angela’s Ashes, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Memoirs of a Geisha and Munich, offering precious thoughts about the Maestro’s music and his creative process with musicians. Hosted by Maurizio Caschetto

If you’ve heard an exquisite solo cello while watching a big Hollywood movie of the last 25 years, it’s very likely that you were listening to the stunning musical talent of Stephen Erdody. He’s one of the most distinguished and talented cellist working in the studio world, but also a very fine classical musician who have spent many years playing with symphony orchestras and chamber groups. His impeccable playing impressed also Maestro John Williams, who appointed him as principal cello of all his recordings in Los Angeles since 1999 until today.

Stephen Erdody performed cello solos for John Williams on such scores as Angela's Ashes (1999), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Munich (2005), War Horse (2011) and The Book Thief (2013). He performed a duet with world-renowned cello superstar Yo-Yo Ma on the score for Memoirs of a Geisha, and also was 1st cello on the Star Wars sequel trilogy produced by Disney. In addition to film scores, Erdody was also principal cello on various recording projects, including the albums American Journey (2002), Yo-Yo Ma Plays the Music of John Williams (2002) and The Spielberg-Williams Collaboration Vol.3 (2017).

Steve is the most renowned studio cellist working in Hollywood today and has recorded hundreds of film and television scores with many top film composers including Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard, Danny Elfman and Ludwig Goransson. You can hear some of Steve’s lovely solos on such scores as I Am Legend (James Newton Howard, 2009), The Pacific (Hans Zimmer, Geoff Zanelli & Blake Neely, 2010), August Rush (Mark Mancina, 2009).

In this conversation, Steve talks in-depth about his distinguished career as Hollywood’s preferred principal cello and his many collaborations with John Williams on such scores as Angela’s Ashes, Munich, Memoirs of a Geisha, War Horse and many others, offering his own deep thoughts and reflections about the uniqueness of Maestro Williams’ music and the role of the cello in his scores, telling many stories and anecdotes from decades of recording sessions with him.

For more information and a list of musical excerpts go to https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2021/07/26/stephen-erdody-podcast